Techno-economic Study of Hydrogen as a Heavy-duty Truck Fuel : A Case Study on the Transport Corridor Oslo – Trondheim

Abstract: Norway has already an almost emission-free power production and its sales of zero-emission light-duty vehicles surpassed 30% in 2018; a natural next challenge is to identify ways to reduce emissions of heavyduty vehicles. In this work the possibilities to deploy Fuel Cell Electric Trucks (FCET) on the route Oslo-Trondheim are analyzed by doing a techno-economic analysis. The literature study identified that in average 932 kton goods where transported between the cities. The preferred road choice goes through Østerdalen and that an average load for a long-distance truck is 16 tons. The methodology used in the study is based on cost curves for both truck and infrastructure, and a case study with various scenarios is evaluated to find a profitable business case for both an FCET fleet and its infrastructure. The cost curves for trucks are based on total cost of ownership (TCO) as a function of hydrogen price, while the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) is used to present the cost of infrastructure. An analysis was made to identify the trucks component sizes and a FCET for this route would require an onboard hydrogen storage of 46 kg, a fuel cell stack with a nominal power of 200 kW, a battery of 100 kWh (min SOC 22%), and an electric motor with a rated power of 402 kW. TCO was calculated both for an FCET based on the dimensioned components and a biodiesel truck. The results show that an FCET purchased in 2020 can be competitive with biodiesel with a hydrogen price of 38.6 NOK/kgH2. While the hydrogen price can increase to 71.8 NOK/ kgH2 if the FCET is purchased in 2030. To identify the most suitable infrastructure, four different designs of hydrogen refueling stations (HRS) were compared. Furthermore, hydrogen production units (HPUs) with both alkaline or PEM type water electrolyzer were compared. The analysis in this study showed that the most cost competitive option was a 350-bar HRS without cooling, which only can serve type III onboard storage tanks. A HPU with alkaline electrolyzer was the most price competitive alternative. In case each HRS is refueling more than 7 FCETs per day, an HPU in direct connection to HRS is the preferred infrastructure setup. Three HRS are required along the route to ensure a minimum service level for the FCETs. When the TCO of the fuel cell truck and LCOH of the hydrogen infrastructure were compared for a 2020 scenario, no feasible solution was identified. The cost of installing three HRS in 2020, serving a fleet of 14-24 trucks, would cost 16.0 – 17.6 million NOK/year more than a fleet based on biodiesel trucks. In a future scenario, where both the FCET and infrastructure costs decrease due to expected learning curves, a business case can be found if at least 5 FCETs were refueling at each HRS on daily basis, which corresponds to a total fleet of approx. 24 FCETs. Finally, a set of clear recommendations on how to improve the techno-economic analysis in future studies are provided. Both by identifying areas lacking sufficient documentation and by providing steps how the tecno-economic model could be enhanced.