Green or blue? Enabling industrial decarbonization and demand response with hydrogen for high temperature process heating

Abstract

Vinyl chloride monomer production coupled with chlor-alkali electrolysis is an industrial process that requires high temperature process heat. One option for providing this process heat in a decarbonized energy system is with either green or blue hydrogen. The demand for hydrogen with low CO 2 intensity will increase with emission restrictions, and the potential for industrial demand response will rise with higher shares of variable renewables in the electricity grid. However, knowledge regarding how the different hydrogen types affect the costs of industrial processes and their flexibility potential is scarce. Hence, we apply a cost-optimization model to assess the decarbonization of the heating process, and the flexibility of the process depending on the hydrogen source. We find that the ability to switch between both green and blue hydrogen is beneficial for the industrial actor, and that the flexibility is highest with an equal share of green and blue hydrogen.

Green or blue? Enabling industrial decarbonization and demand response with hydrogen for high temperature process heating