Technical and economic evaluation of Power-to-Gas in link with a 50 MW wind park

•We assessed two Power-to-Gas pathways, Hydrogen and SNG, in the current Romanian energy context.•Technical sizing is strongly dependent on the high CAPEX cost of the electrolysis process.•An operating strategy based on a high capacity factor for the electrolysis units is required in order to compensate for the high CAPEX and OPEX costs.•Power-to-Gas is not economically feasible without support measures or high value markets.•Break-even point is reached for price premiums of 68.1 Є/MWh (Hydrogen) and 120 Є/MWh (SNG).

In the energy transition context, large scale energy storage technologies are considered as one of the options that can facilitate a high penetration of renewable energy sources. The current article focuses on evaluating the implementation of Power-to-Gas in the Romanian energy market that recorded a significant growth in the share of renewables and will potentially face the related issues. After establishing a general approach, the two technical pathways of Power-to-Gas, Hydrogen and SNG, are technically sized and economically evaluated from an investor's point of view, in order to assess the current economic feasibility and the required price premiums that have to be put in place in order to reach a positive business case. Results indicate that high capacity factors are needed to compensate for the high capital costs, but even in this situation price premiums are required for economic feasibility, 68.1 Є/MWh for the Hydrogen pathway and 112 Є/MWh for Power-to-Gas SNG.

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