Large scale hydrogen production from wind energy for the upgrading of bitumen from oil sands

•Techno-economic/simulation model developed for a large scale wind-hydrogen plant.•Multitude of plant configurations considered for least cost H2 production.•Optimum electrolyzer unit size for minimum H2 cost is 3496 kW (760Nm3/h).•Optimum electrolyzer farm size for minimum H2 cost is 80 units.•Large scale wind-based H2 is not cost-competitive with natural gas-based H2.

There is considerable interest concerning sustainable, economically competitive and environmentally benign hydrogen production pathways. In this study, a large scale wind-hydrogen plant is assessed for the production of electrolytic hydrogen, for the servicing of the oil sands bitumen upgrading industry in Western Canada. The wind-hydrogen plant proposed has a capacity of 563 MW, along with the dual functionality of hydrogen production and electricity generation; with the delivery of hydrogen to the bitumen upgrader via pipeline. The research carried out involved the development of a data intensive techno-economic model in tandem with a simulation model of the plant. Several plant configurations were assessed to determine the optimum electrolyzer size and quantity – which would translate into the minimum hydrogen production cost (including delivery). The optimal plant configuration consists of 80 units of the 3496 kW (760 Nm3/h) electrolyzer, which yields a minimum hydrogen production cost of $8.43 and $7.84/kg of H2 with and without delivery. Therefore, currently, hydrogen production from wind energy remains uncompetitive relative to conventional fossil fuel hydrogen pathways.