As a municipal company, Stadtwerke Bielefeld and its subsidiary Bielefelder Netz GmbH supply customers reliably and safely with electricity, gas, water and district heating. Through five subsidiaries, Stadtwerke Bielefeld supplies the people of Bielefeld and local businesses with a wide range of products and services for urban mobility and infrastructure.

As part of an electrolysis project, Stadtwerke Bielefeld has examined the economic viability with regard to possible subsidies, various electricity procurement strategies and utilization options for the hydrogen produced and the excess heat generated.

The objectives of the project were the development of 2-3 business case variants against the background of various electricity procurement options, the qualitative examination of additional utilization options for H2 and excess heat, and the simplified inclusion of an H2 storage facility to compensate for non-continuous operation of the electrolyser. Based on historical electricity prices and electricity price forecasts, we determined the optimal operation of the electrolyser, derived recommendations for procurement and check whether additional infrastructure (such as an H2 storage facility) makes sense. In addition, sales opportunities are explored and evaluated on the basis of generation costs.

We were able to derive a cost-optimized operating mode for the electrolyser and thus show the customer cost reduction potential and derive a procurement strategy for green electricity. In addition, we classified various revenue potentials and evaluated the potential uses of volatile H2 generation. The direct comparison of the electricity procurement options from waste incineration plant Bielefeld with procurement on the market and the resulting implications for the business case was particularly beneficial for the client.