energy_mass_balancecostinghydrogen
Screening of hydrogen yield (kg/t biomass) and levelized cost (EUR/kg) from thermochemical biomass gasification + water-gas shift.
Delivered feedstock energy price. IEA Task 33 reference is 20 EUR/MWh; this is the dominant, transparent cost term.
Real discount rate used to compute the capital recovery factor (CRF) for annualizing CAPEX.
Plant economic lifetime for the levelized cost calculation.
Levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH)
Total annual cost divided by annual H2 production
Total project CAPEX (all-in)
Installed plant cost + indirects/owner costs
Scaled specific CAPEX
Equipment cost intensity after scale law and clamps
Annualized CAPEX (CRF-based)
Total project CAPEX as an annual payment equivalent
Annual feedstock cost
Biomass energy purchased per year (dominant cost term)
Total annual cost
Annualized CAPEX + fixed O&M + feedstock
LCOH breakdown: capital component
Annualized CAPEX share of the levelized cost
LCOH breakdown: feedstock component
Feedstock share of the levelized cost
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Energy efficiency from biomass LHV in to hydrogen LHV out. IEA Task 33 reports 40-70%; report central value ~67%.
Moisture content of as-received biomass. Higher moisture lowers per-tonne yield and adds a drying parasitic load.
Hydrogen yield (as-received biomass)
Per-tonne yield after moisture correction (main yield metric)
Biomass-to-hydrogen efficiency (LHV)
Energy efficiency from biomass LHV in to H2 LHV out
Hydrogen yield (dry biomass)
Energy-balance yield per tonne of dry feedstock
Specific biomass consumption
Biomass energy required per kg of hydrogen
Effective efficiency (after drying penalty)
Conversion efficiency derated by the moisture drying penalty
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Nameplate hydrogen production capacity of the gasification + WGS + PSA train, on an LHV-energy basis.
Average annual utilization. Drives operating hours and annual production. 91% maps to ~8000 h/year (IEA cost basis).
Annual hydrogen production
Plant-level annual H2 output
Annual biomass energy input
Feedstock energy consumed per year
CO2 co-product intensity
CO2 produced per kg H2 (for CCS/BECCS screening)
Annual CO2 co-product
CO2 available for capture/storage per year
Annual operating hours
Operating hours implied by the capacity factor
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Equipment purchase cost
Gasifier + gas cleanup/WGS + PSA package supply (excl. installation)
Installed plant cost
Equipment + installation (excl. owner costs)
Equipment breakdown: gasifier island
Indicative gasifier share of equipment cost
Equipment breakdown: gas cleanup + WGS
Indicative gas conditioning and water-gas-shift share
Equipment breakdown: PSA + balance of plant
Indicative purification and BoP share
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Calculator context
Screening calculator for hydrogen produced by thermochemical biomass gasification, water-gas shift (WGS) and PSA purification. It couples two headline outputs: (A) hydrogen yield per tonne of biomass and (B) the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH, EUR/kg). Yield uses the energy-balance form h2 = 1000 * eta * (biomass_LHV / H2_LHV), reproducing the IEA Bioenergy Task 33 (2025) headline of ~100 kg H2 per tonne of dry biomass at 67% efficiency, then corrects for feedstock moisture. LCOH levelizes annualized CAPEX (scale-law equipment cost + installation + owner factors, recovered via CRF), fixed O&M and the dominant biomass feedstock cost over annual production. At the IEA reference (200 MW output, 8000 h/year, 20 EUR/MWh biomass) the model returns ~4 EUR/kg, within the published 2.2-7.4 EUR/kg cross-study span. A third production route distinct from electrolysis and natural-gas reforming.
49 assumptions used in the calculations
Prevents division-by-zero and NaN propagation.
Market range Not applicable.
Avoids inline literals in DSL expressions per spec.
Market range Exact.
Used for capacity-factor annualization.
Market range 8760 (8784 leap year).
Converts hydrogen LHV (MJ/kg) to MWh/kg.
Market range Exact.
Converts percent inputs (capacity factor, efficiency, moisture) to fractions.
Market range Exact.
Converts fractions back to percent for reporting and bound checks.
Market range Exact.
Converts per-tonne yield and tonne CO2 reporting.
Market range Exact.
Converts plant MW capacity to kW for specific-CAPEX costing.
Market range Exact.
Hydrogen lower heating value, used for energy<->mass conversions.
Dry-basis biomass LHV; reproduces the IEA 100 kg/t value at 67% efficiency.
Reference efficiency anchoring the CO2 intensity proxy.
CO2 intensity at the nominal efficiency, before efficiency scaling and clamping.
Lower bound for CO2 co-product intensity.
Market range 15 kg/kg (band floor).
Upper bound for CO2 co-product intensity.
Market range 20 kg/kg (band ceiling).
Slope of the drying parasitic penalty vs moisture fraction.
Lower clamp of the drying penalty (no efficiency gain from moisture).
Market range 1 (by definition).
Upper clamp of the drying penalty factor.
Anchor size for scaling specific CAPEX.
Reference equipment cost intensity at the 200 MW reference size.
Economies-of-scale exponent for the equipment cost curve.
Lower clamp for scaled specific CAPEX.
Upper clamp for scaled specific CAPEX.
Installation labor, foundations, piping and commissioning at screening level.
Engineering, permitting, contingency and owner costs.
Gasifier island share of equipment cost.
Gas cleanup and water-gas-shift share of equipment cost.
PSA purification and balance-of-plant share of equipment cost.
Routine maintenance, staffing and service at screening level.
Prevents implausibly low O&M fractions.
Prevents implausibly high O&M fractions.
Standard HHV anchor for hydrogen.
Market range 142 MJ/kg (standard).
IEA report's reference dry-basis yield used as benchmark.
Market range ~100 kg/t (IEA headline).
Literature minimum thermochemical H2 yield.
Market range 40 kg/t (low end of span).
Literature maximum thermochemical H2 yield.
Market range 190 kg/t (high end of span).
Minimum plausible biomass-to-H2 efficiency.
Market range 40% (LHV basis).
Maximum plausible biomass-to-H2 efficiency.
Market range 70% (LHV basis).
Reference H2 plant output for the published cost basis.
Market range 200 MW (IEA cost basis).
Reference annual operating hours for the IEA cost basis.
Market range 8000 h/year (IEA basis).
Reference biomass price for the published LCOH.
Market range 20 EUR/MWh (IEA reference).
Reference-plant LCOH low bound.
Market range 2.7 EUR/kg (IEA Fig.4).
Reference-plant LCOH high bound.
Market range 4.0 EUR/kg (IEA Fig.4).
Central reference LCOH for benchmarking.
Market range ~4 EUR/kg (IEA central).
Cross-study LCOH minimum.
Market range 2.2 EUR/kg (Table 6 low).
Cross-study LCOH maximum.
Market range 7.4 EUR/kg (Table 6 high).
CO2-credited LCOH low bound.
Market range 2.2 EUR/kg (Fig.5 low).
CO2-credited LCOH high bound.
Market range 3.5 EUR/kg (Fig.5 high).
Net CO2 negative-emissions credit.
Market range ~50 EUR/t (net).
As-received NCV at 20% moisture.
Market range 15.2 GJ/t (20% moisture).
As-received NCV at 50% moisture.
Market range 9.5 GJ/t (50% moisture).
Primary reference
IEA Bioenergy Task 33 — Biomass gasification for hydrogen production (Feb 2025).
