| Work Detail |
Reversible fuel cell systems based on solid oxide cell (SOC) technology may become an effective tool for coping with price volatility in the energy market, according to new research from Stanford. Researchers from Stanford University (United States) and the University of Mannheim (Germany) have proposed using reversible fuel cells as standby power generators to deal with volatility in electricity markets and sharp fluctuations in electricity prices. electricity. “Reversible fuel cells can be an economically viable source of standby electricity during periods of rising prices, such as the one Texas experienced in 2021, when winter storms knocked out natural gas-fired power plants,” says the lead author of the research, Stefan J. Reichelstein, noting that reversible systems can help capture economic value from renewable electricity when prices are low. In the article Reversible Power-to-Gas systems for energy conversion and storage , published in Nature Communications, Reichelstein and colleagues developed an analytical model of the unit economy of the reversible fuel cell system . While modular systems require sufficiently low hydrogen prices for the reversibility feature to be valuable, integrated systems may be economically viable for higher hydrogen prices by generating primarily hydrogen but also providing electricity during times of limited power supply, is read in the study. Using the proposed model, which primarily considered the German and Texas electricity markets, the research group found that fuel cell systems based on solid oxide cell (SOC) technology can be competitive at current hydrogen prices, provided there is sufficient variation in daily electricity prices, such as in the Texas market. The researchers say that reversible systems are economically viable even in the presence of substantially lower hydrogen prices in the future. This is because the flexibility inherent in these systems allows them to respond to lower hydrogen prices by operating more frequently in reverse mode, delivering additional electricity to energy markets. They also took into account the likely decline in SOC fuel cell costs over the next 10 years and found that they could remain competitive even with substantially lower hydrogen prices. These systems can be especially valuable during periods of electricity shortages, including regular demand spikes and irregular supply crises. Reversible systems can be built on almost any scale, they add, so they can be used by individual companies or small communities as well as by large urban power grids, Reichelstein concludes. |
