A previous update of this work package explained how the agricultural sector cannot avoid gradually working towards a ‘fossil-free’ agricultural company. Because agricultural companies are often large producers of energy in the form of electricity (solar panels and wind turbines), conversion to hydrogen, as an energy carriers is an interesting alternative.
The scale on which hydrogen is produced strongly determines the cost price. Model calculations in which the scale of hydrogen production is tailored to the demand of a 100ha agricultural company points towards a cost price of more than €50 / kg H2, while at a scale for a 1000ha company the cost price drops to approximately €20 / kg H2. It is therefore important to look for partnerships when producing H2. In addition, there’s a discussion that the power grid in the Netherlands is completely full and restrictions are increasingly being imposed on the amount of power that can be supplied back. That is why the variant is currently being calculated in which the electricity used is valued at €0,0. This will lead to a further reduction in the cost price of hydrogen.
An unattractive economic picture
An initial business economic analysis of the impact of switching from diesel to hydrogen-powered tractors is not positive. The current high price of hydrogen tractors compared to standard tractors is the cause of this. Only when the hydrogen tractor is produced on a large(r) scale, the business economics picture will become attractive. A lot of energy is lost when converting electricity to hydrogen. Electrically powered tractors are therefore interesting, but with higher capacities and this requires a large and heavy battery pack. In addition, battery packs often need to be charged severel times a day. This loss of capacity (working hours) can be compensated in two ways. On one hand by using fast charging stations (expensive), on the other hand by using interchangeably battery packs. At our request, SPIE, is currently analyzing the practical and economic feasibility of these alternatives. The reports will be ready in a few months and you can read them on this website in due time.