A Holistic Methodology to Quantify Product Competitiveness and Define Innovation Requirements for Micro Gas Turbine Systems in Hydrogen-Based Energy Storage Applications

Abstract

Micro gas turbines are an on-site power and heat generation technology with a small footprint, low gaseous (NOx) and acoustic emissions, low maintenance and high-grade heat. They entered the market at the dawn of the twentieth century; nevertheless, they achieved minimal success and a marginal role in the microgeneration market. Reciprocating internal combustion engines raised considerable barriers hindering their market deployment, and Fuel Cells are also set to compete in this segment.

In this scenario, this work presents an analysis of competitiveness grounded in the Theory of Constraints. To this end, a specific Key Performance Indicator has been produced, which combines technical, economic, and operational factors according to the end-user requirement. This indicator is a function of several penalty factors representing technology and market barriers, which aims to yield a unique insight into the most competitive technology for a given application, accounting for the uncertainty deriving from technical and economic elements.

This novel methodology is applied to a new potential niche market: Power-to-Hydrogen-to-Power for remote applications. The methodology is applied to an independent rural community in South Wales, for which a backup power system is assessed. Four technologies are considered in the analysis: reciprocating engines, fuel cells and two different microturbines layouts.

Finally, this work provides an overview of the possible R&D&I paths necessary to increase the competitiveness of micro gas turbines in certain markets.