Electrochemical synthesis of hydrogen in the Dutch energy system

Abstract

Due to the growing share of renewable energy sources (RESs) to counter global warming and fossil fuel depletion, the energy sector is electrifying at an increasing pace. However, not all sectors can electrify fully or at an even speed. The industry sector for instance, is heavily reliant on fossil fuelled feedstocks. Power-to-X is named in literature to resolve that dependency. A practical example of the Power-to-X principle is the electrochemical synthesis of hydrogen. The Dutch government aims to have 500MW of electrolyzers capacity installed by 2025, and 8GW by 2030. However, currently there is 1MW of capacity installed. This thesis aimed to find the rationale behind the discrepancy between the reality and the set targets. In this thesis, the Technical Innovation System (TIS) is analysed in an effort to delineate what the impact of the innovation system is on the development of the technology.

With the use of a structural-functional analysis as proposed by Hekkert et al. (2011), an inductive research approach is taken, and the following research question is answered:

How do the systemic functions impact the implementation and development of electrochemical synthesizes of hydrogen in the Netherlands and how can this performance be improved?

The data is gathered via 13 expert interviews. The seven key processes are assessed. By doing so, the impact of the systemic functions is given. The resource mobilization scored a 2, the entrepreneurial activity, knowledge diffusion, guidance of the search, and market formation a score of 3, and knowledge development and creation of legitimacy a score of 4. In total, 36 systemic problems arose from the analysis. The systemic problems concentrate around the market uncertainty, lack or absence of institutional guidance and incentives, reluctant attitude of stakeholders, and insufficient resource availability. Systemic problems occurred in all system functions.

The relevance of the seven system functions is questioned in the context of sustainable technologies since this analysis showed the extremes housing within SF4. Additionally, the use of a label score and an analysis score delivered a method for decreasing the subjective influence of the researcher with the ability to indicate weights to an argument. Both add to existing innovation literature and could be considered by future TIS analysists. Furthermore, this analysis showed the impact the innovation system has on the development of the technology. This is in contrast with existing techno-economic research on the challenges for hydrogen electrolysis, whom reason from the perspective of the technology. Further research could include adoption theory, in which the preferences of consumers are added, whilst the TIS analysis would result in the current capabilities of the system to uphold to these preferences.