DECARBONIZING FREIGHT TRANSPORT: ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF DIRECT SEAWATER ELECTROLYSIS FOR MARITIME HYDROGEN PRODUCTION
Abstract
The use of hydrogen and its derivates is essential for the decarbonization of freight transport, including ports and maritime logistics. Ensuring sufficient hydrogen production is therefore crucial; yet in regions with limited accessto renewable and cheap energy, such as Germany, many ports rely on hydrogen imports to meet their needs. Even though large- scale hydrogen imports are necessary to meet future hydrogen demand at competitive prices, current geopolitical developments, such as the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East, highlight the vulnerability of global supply chains. Therefore, an additional local production is required to ensure resilience and independence. For the production of green hydrogen, sufficient amounts of water and renewable energy are essential. Commonly, electrolysis requires high- purity freshwater. In the near future, thisreliance may cause challenges for global drinking water supply, especially but not only in arid regions. In response, the SeaEly project aims to use seawater directly as feedstock for electrolysis. This approach leverages the abundance of seawater worldwide and reduces energy consumption by eliminating the need for water pre- treatment. To achieve the project’s goals, special membranes are being developed to withstand the high salinity of seawater in oppose to other current research projects focusing on the indirect seawater electrolysis. The economic effects of using seawater instead of freshwater for electrolysis, and of using different electricity sources depending on its location along the German North Sea coast, are analyzed in this work. For electricity demands, grid, renewable and surplus energy from local windfarms are considered through an analysis of the 2024 redispatch data. Overall, this analysis gives insights into the viability of Germany as a hydrogen production location. The analysis results indicate that hydrogen can be produced at minimum production costs of 4.4 €/kg in Brunsbüttel by utilizing existing wind energy surpluses.
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DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21622/MARLOG.2026.15.1.68
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