About me
Levelized Cost of Hydrogen Analysis for Port Drayage Fuel Cell Trucks: A Production to Dispensing Perspective - Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) offer a viable pathway to decarbonize Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDVs). Particularly, port drayage trucks benefit significantly from transitioning to a green hydrogen FCEV fleet. However, accurately quantifying hydrogen demand is crucial for the optimal and economical design of hydrogen refueling stations (HRS). While previous studies have addressed hydrogen refueling costs and design factors, limited research has focused on refueling demand distribution for port drayage trucks. This study explores how the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) varies with production technology types, delivery methods, station capacities, and utilization rates, from upstream production to downstream dispensing for port drayage trucks. Two spreadsheet models—Hydrogen Analysis-lite (H2A-lite) and Hydrogen Delivery Scenario Analysis Model (HDSAM v4.5)—were used to assess LCOH at production, delivery, and dispensing levels. In previous work, we developed a data-driven microscopic energy demand model with high spatial resolution for drayage trucks, estimating an average energy efficiency of 0.15 kg H₂/mi, which was integrated into the hydrogen demand analysis. To achieve a 25% share of drayage FCEVs in the Southern California region, three station capacities (4000, 8000, and 12000 kg/day) and two utilization rates (40% and 80%) were considered. Results show that LCOH at the production level doubles for blue hydrogen ($2.73/kg H₂) and is 3-6 times higher for green hydrogen ($3.94-$6.65/kg H₂) compared to grey hydrogen production ($1.30/kg H₂) using natural gas. We found that total LCOH decreases with increasing station capacity and scales with hydrogen production technology. Green hydrogen produced using hybrid renewable electricity (combining solar and wind) demonstrates greater potential to compete with grey and blue hydrogen technologies under larger demand scenarios. Moreover, downstream LCOH increases significantly when the station utilization rate drops from 80% to 40% across all HRS capacities. At gaseous HRS, the downstream LCOH increases by 50%-60% as utilization declines. In contrast, liquid HRS stations experience a comparatively lower maximum increase of 36% at the lowest capacity station (4000 kg/day), highlighting the economic advantage of liquid hydrogen infrastructure under low utilization scenarios. These insights emphasize the importance of optimizing station capacity, utilization rates, and production strategies to ensure economic feasibility and competitiveness in hydrogen deployment.
