Scaling up Renewable Hydrogen in Ireland: Feasibility Study of a Hydrogen Production Plant for an Industrial User

Reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 will require the deployment of hydrogen as a central low-carbon energy vector. Despite its potential, the current green hydrogen value chain is still at an early stage, with only a small number of projects in operation worldwide. In this context, the establishment of hydrogen valleys, combined with Ireland’s abundant wind resources, could enable large-scale production of hydrogen, while playing a decisive role in helping reduce emissions for hard-to-abate sectors, such as heavy industry, transport, and power generation. The decarbonization of energy-intensive industries represents a major challenge for meeting European climate targets. In particular, the cement sector is among the largest industrial emitters, and innovative solutions are required to reduce its carbon footprint. This thesis investigates the feasibility of integrating renewable hydrogen into an Irish cement production facility. The study initially considers three hydrogen integration pathways: • the use of hydrogen in the cement production process, • the use of hydrogen for the transport fleet, • the combination of hydrogen with carbon capture and utilization (CCU) to produce e-fuels, specifically methanol. After a preliminary assessment, only the transport application was consiedered technically and economically viable, as the other two options were limited by regulatory gaps or prohibitive equipment and investment requirements. The research then focuses on the design of a local renewable hydrogen production plant to supply the fleet. An hourly simulation model was developed in Excel and translated into Python to evaluate plant operation, renewable electricity supply, and hydrogen output. A techno-economic assessment was performed, covering investment costs (CAPEX), operation and maintenance costs (OPEX), levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH), and levelized cost of energy (LCOE). Sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore alternative implementation scenarios, including grid connection. Results show that the proposed configurations can meet the company’s transport demand both with a fully renewable supply, delivering green hydrogen, and with a grid-connected supply, delivering low-carbon hydrogen, in compliance with European Renewable Energy Directive III on CO₂-equivalent emission reductions. The techno-economic assessment indicates that the cost structure is still heavily influenced by capital expenditure and the current market price of hydrogen-related technologies, which remain high compared to conventional transport fuels such as diesel. Nevertheless, ongoing improvements in electrolyzer efficiency and the expected scale-up of the hydrogen sector are projected to significantly lower costs in the coming years. Beyond the specific case study, this work demonstrates the potential of hydrogen-based solutions for industrial transport and contributes to the broader scaling up of the hydrogen market.