Strategic planning of decentralized hydrogen production for an efficient decarbonization of heat-intensive manufacturing systems

Currently, space heat and process heat in the industrial sector are primarily sourced from fossil fuels, such as natural gas, which is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Recognizing the imperative to decarbonize manufacturing systems, regulations, such as the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, were implemented. To adhere to those legal requirements and remain competitive, manufacturing companies are working towards decarbonizing their heat supply. There are several approaches to replace fossil fuels, such as direct electrification, i.e., the use of electricity-based heat supply technologies, or the decentralized production of hydrogen with electrolyzers. Decentralized hydrogen production is often promoted because, in contrast to direct electrification, manufacturing companies expect, e.g., fewer adjustments to existing plant technology. However, current approaches to decarbonization using hydrogen often result in high specific costs or high specific greenhouse gas emissions for the hydrogen. Therefore, this paper addresses the challenge of economically and ecologically inefficient hydrogen-based decarbonization in heat-intensive manufacturing systems, such as high-temperature forging and heat treatment facilities. For this purpose, a comprehensive approach for the strategic planning of decentralized hydrogen production to support decarbonization efforts is proposed. The approach consists of three methods. The first one evaluates the technical suitability of manufacturing systems for electrolyzer integration. The second one focuses on electrolyzer dimensioning for diverse manufacturing applications, and the third one enables the assessment of decentralized hydrogen production regarding specific costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, the approach comprises prototypical implementation and validation in an industrial context.