energy_mass_balancecostinghydrogen
Screening-stage hydrogen electrolyser calculator with technology selector, nominal power and capacity factor; outputs hourly/annual H2, water feed, O2 co-product, CAPEX breakdown, and levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH).
Select electrolyser type. Technology affects specific electricity consumption and reference CAPEX assumptions.
Total electrical input capacity of the electrolyser system (MW).
min 1 · max 1000 · step 1 · MW
Effective electricity consumption
Technology-specific specific consumption adjusted by capacity-factor penalty
Hydrogen production rate
Main product, while operating at nominal power
Hourly water requirement (volume)
Feedstock need per hour, converted to m3
Hourly oxygen co-production
O2 co-product per hour (stoichiometric)
Average utilization over the year. Used to compute operating hours and annual production/consumption.
min 5 · max 100 · step 1 · %
Annual electricity consumption
Electrical input energy based on nominal power and capacity factor
Annual hydrogen production
Main product, annualized by capacity factor
Annual operating hours (at capacity factor)
Used to annualize production and costs
Annual water requirement
Feedstock need (make-up water), stoichiometric basis
Annual oxygen co-production
Co-product (if captured/purified); otherwise vented
Total project CAPEX (all-in)
Installed plant cost + indirects/owner costs (screening scope)
Equipment purchase cost (EPC supply, excl. installation)
Electrolyser system package purchase only (screening)
Installed plant cost (equipment + installation)
Excludes owner costs unless embedded in installation factor
Scaled specific equipment CAPEX
Electrolyser package purchase cost intensity after scale curve and clamps
Sign in to view this sensitivity chart.
Annualized CAPEX (CRF-based)
Total project CAPEX converted to an annual payment equivalent
Equipment breakdown: stack share
Indicative allocation within equipment purchase cost
Equipment breakdown: balance of plant (BoP) share
Indicative allocation within equipment purchase cost
Equipment breakdown: power electronics share
Indicative allocation within equipment purchase cost
Average delivered electricity price to the electrolyser (all-in, as applicable).
Screening value for purified/industrial water. Stoichiometric water need is calculated; treatment losses are not modeled.
Levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH)
Total annual cost divided by annual H2 production
Economic lifetime for levelized cost calculation.
Used to compute CRF for annualizing CAPEX.
Calculator context
This calculator estimates hydrogen (H2) production, electricity and water requirements, oxygen (O2) co-production, and screening-level CAPEX and LCOH for an electrolyser plant using a technology selector (PEM / Alkaline / AEM). It is scoped to the user’s operating context “Technology: hydrogen” and is intended for early project development decisions where only nameplate power, capacity factor, and a few commercial assumptions are known.
The model combines a simplified energy balance, a stoichiometric mass balance, and a cost scaling + discounted cash-flow approach aligned with widely used pre-feasibility methods (e.g., IRENA technology briefs, IEA/NREL cost reporting conventions, and standard project finance practice).
Key steps and equations:
38 assumptions used in the calculations
Prevents division-by-zero and NaN propagation in edge cases.
Market range Not applicable (numerical parameter).
Used for capacity-factor annualization.
Market range 8760 (non-leap year); 8784 (leap year).
Converts MW to kW for kWh/kg calculations.
Market range Exact.
Converts water mass to volume for reporting.
2H2O → 2H2 + O2 implies 18 g water per 2 g H2.
Market range 9 (stoichiometric); higher if including purification and blowdown losses.
2H2O → 2H2 + O2 implies 32 g O2 per 4 g H2.
Market range 8 (stoichiometric).
Represents efficiency degradation and non-ideal operation at lower utilization in a simple way.
Prevents penalty from improving performance below the reference specific consumption.
Market range 1 (by definition).
Avoids unrealistically large penalties at low capacity factors in a screening model.
Required because DSL has no strings.
Market range Not applicable.
Required because DSL has no strings.
Market range Not applicable.
Required because DSL has no strings.
Market range Not applicable.
Avoids inline literals in DSL expressions per spec.
Market range Exact.
Validates selector domain.
Validates selector domain.
Screening mid-point for modern PEM systems including balance-of-plant loads.
Screening mid-point for modern AEL systems.
AEM is emerging; value set conservatively for screening.
Provides a consistent anchor for scaling specific CAPEX with size.
Screening mid-range for PEM system purchase costs.
Screening mid-range for alkaline systems.
Emerging technology; set conservatively for screening.
Represents economies of scale for packaged systems.
Represents economies of scale for packaged systems.
Emerging technology; assumed slightly weaker economies of scale.
Prevents unrealistically low specific costs due to scaling outside intended range.
Prevents unrealistically high specific costs due to scaling outside intended range.
Represents installation labor, foundations, cabling, piping, and commissioning at screening level.
Approximates engineering, permitting, contingency, owner's costs, and development costs.
Represents routine maintenance, staffing, and service agreements at screening level.
Screening assumption; alkaline maintenance cost may be somewhat lower in some service models.
Emerging technology; assumed higher service/maintenance burden at screening stage.
Represents mild economies of scale in fixed O&M overheads.
Market range -0.15 to 0.
Prevents implausibly low O&M fractions in large-scale cases.
Prevents implausibly high O&M fractions from scaling artifacts.
Represents stack as the dominant cost component in many electrolysers.
Captures pumps, piping, cooling, gas-liquid management, controls, etc.
Represents rectifier / power electronics package share of equipment cost.
