The ENTSOE study (https://www.entsoe.eu/news/2025/06/18/entso-publishes-report-on-impact-of-renewable-hydrogen-on-the-power-system/) assesses the integration of renewable hydrogen into the European power system, focusing on technical characteristics of electrolysers, system impacts, market and regulatory enablers. It provides a comparative assessment of alkaline (AEC), proton exchange membrane (PEM) and solid oxide (SOEC) electrolyser technologies with respect to technological maturity, efficiency, start up and ramping dynamics, operational lifetime and degradation. Highlighting AEC’s scalability and extended stack life, PEM’s rapid dynamic response and compact footprint, and SOEC’s superior theoretical efficiency constrained by lower technological readiness.

Building on Ten-Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP) and International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) AR6 scenarios inputs, the report quantifies projected hydrogen demand trajectories to 2050 and examines siting implications for transmission and distribution networks, including connection requirements, potential congestion, and impacts on system stability. It evaluates operational modes, including baseload, price-driven implicit demand response, and explicit demand response, and identifies electrolysers as controllable loads capable of providing short-duration flexibility and, when coupled with hydrogen storage, long-duration flexibility.

The study recommends coordinated cross sector planning, development of connection requirements aligned with NC DC 2.0, targeted deployment support, and market arrangements that enable revenue stacking to facilitate transition toward flexible, subsidy-free operation while ensuring system resilience and security.