lcoh calculator
What does green hydrogen cost per kilogram? Slide the operating hours, set your electricity price and energy mix, or pull solar and wind data for your site from NASA. Public EU defaults, validated against the European Hydrogen Observatory.
1Technology & operation
2Your site: NASA solar & wind data
Fetches the 2001–2020 climatology for these coordinates directly from NASA POWER (your browser contacts power.larc.nasa.gov).
Data: NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project, funded through the NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program. Capacity factors: PV fixed optimal tilt (+15 % vs horizontal), performance ratio 0.82, DC/AC ratio 1.3; modern onshore turbine (rated at 10 m/s, 135 m hub), Rayleigh wind distribution, 12 % losses. Electrolyser hours = CF × 1.25 (PV) or × 1.11 (wind) × 8,760, as in the EHO method; calibrated to the EHO default hours (e.g. Malta PV 2,759 h, Ireland wind 4,915 h).
3Energy mix
Blended power cost: €50.0/MWh. Shares are normalised to 100 %.
4Stack physics
Energy use follows from the cell voltage (2 F per mole of H₂). Current density sets how much hydrogen each cell makes and how many stacks the plant needs; CAPEX per kW is kept constant.
Advanced settings: cost, financing, efficiency (public defaults)
Financing
Plant cost & stack
Electricity & efficiency
Newer EHO electrolyser-cost data (2025, 100 MW): PEM €2,196/kW, alkaline €2,075/kW.
Levelised cost of hydrogen · PEM
€6.44/kg H₂
≈ €193 per MWh of hydrogen (LHV) · 4,000 h/yr at €50/MWh
- 1,431t/yrhydrogen output
- 55.9kWh/kglifetime-average energy use
- 43%of LCOH is electricity
Cost breakdown
- Capital (CAPEX × CRF)€2.74
- Other OPEX€0.70
- Stack replacement€0.21
- Electricity€2.80
- Grid fees & taxes€0.00
PEM anode iridium at the 25 Sep 2026 price: ≈ €301/kW (12 % of CAPEX, 1.3 g/kW). Iridium calculator →
Marker = your current inputs. The curve flattens once the investment is spread over enough hours; small steps mark one more stack replacement within the lifetime.
- –power density
- –per cell
- –per stack
- –H₂ per stack
- –system energy use
Where the electricity goes (LHV basis): hydrogen, stack heat (voltage above 1.25 V), conversion and auxiliaries.
validated against the eho
✓ within 0.2 % of all cases
We cross-checked the maths with the European Hydrogen Observatory LCOH calculator (Clean Hydrogen Partnership / Hydrogen Europe). With the EHO’s published inputs from its calculator manual – country electricity price, grid fees and taxes, operating hours, technology defaults, 6 % cost of capital, 25-year lifetime – this tool gives the same LCOH:
| EHO use case | Inputs | EHO LCOH | This tool | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany · alkaline · wholesale | 4,000 h · €57.76/MWh + €59.70 fees/taxes · 6 % · 25 yr | €9.70/kg | €9.70/kg | -0.0 % |
| Norway · alkaline · wholesale | 4,000 h · €27.41/MWh + €13.80 fees/taxes · 6 % · 25 yr | €5.54/kg | €5.53/kg | -0.1 % |
| Spain · alkaline · direct PV (2,803 h) | 2,803 h · €28.66/MWh · 6 % · 25 yr | €5.99/kg | €5.99/kg | -0.0 % |
| Germany · PEM · wholesale | 4,000 h · €57.76/MWh + €59.70 fees/taxes · 6 % · 25 yr | €10.23/kg | €10.21/kg | -0.2 % |
| France · alkaline · wholesale, 8 % / 15 yr | 4,000 h · €59.51/MWh + €16.00 fees/taxes · 8 % · 15 yr | €8.39/kg | €8.39/kg | +0.1 % |
Method, as in the EHO manual: CAPEX annualised with the capital recovery factor; other OPEX and stack replacements as a share of CAPEX (number of replacements = lifetime hours ÷ stack durability, rounded down); energy use averaged over each stack life with linear degradation; grid fees and taxes on grid electricity only.
how it is calculated
At the defaults (PEM, 4,000 h/yr, €50/MWh, 6 % WACC, 25 years) the capital recovery factor is 0.0782, the plant needs 1 stack replacement and uses 55.9 kWh per kg on average, giving €6.44/kg: capital €2.74, other OPEX €0.70, stack €0.21, electricity €2.80.
LCOH at a glance (PEM, EHO defaults, no grid fees)
| Hours / yr ↓ · power price → | €20/MWh | €35/MWh | €50/MWh | €70/MWh | €100/MWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,000 h | €7.98 | €8.81 | €9.65 | €10.77 | €12.44 |
| 3,000 h | €5.97 | €6.81 | €7.65 | €8.77 | €10.44 |
| 4,000 h | €4.76 | €5.60 | €6.44 | €7.56 | €9.24 |
| 6,000 h | €3.70 | €4.54 | €5.38 | €6.50 | €8.18 |
| 8,000 h | €3.16 | €4.00 | €4.85 | €5.97 | €7.65 |
Default assumptions
| Parameter | PEM | Alkaline | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installed CAPEX (20 MW) | €2,503/kW | €2,310/kW | EHO LCOH calculator (ref. 2024) |
| Energy use (beginning of life) | 53.3 kWh/kg | 52.4 kWh/kg | EHO; consistent with IEA GHR 2025 |
| Stack durability / degradation | 60,000 h · 0.19 %/1000 h | 80,000 h · 0.12 %/1000 h | EHO |
| Stack replacement · other OPEX | 15 % of CAPEX per replacement · 2 % of CAPEX per year | EHO | |
| Cost of capital · lifetime | 6 % · 25 years | EHO | |
| Operating hours (grid) | 4,000 h/yr (cheapest hours of the year) | EHO | |
| Solar PV / onshore wind power cost | €41 / €31 per MWh | IRENA 2024, global weighted LCOE 2023 | |
| Current density | 2 A/cm² | 0.4 A/cm² | IRENA 2020, Table 6 |
| PEM iridium loading · price | 1.3 g/kW · US$8,200/oz (25 Sep 2026) | – | IRENA 2020 Table 7; Umicore |
Screening tool for comparing scenarios. Real project costs depend on site, scope, financing and supplier; it is not a CENmat price or offer.
faq
What is the levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH)?
LCOH is the average cost of producing one kilogram of hydrogen over the life of a plant: the annualised investment plus operating, stack replacement and electricity costs, divided by the hydrogen produced. It is the standard metric used by the IEA, IRENA and the European Hydrogen Observatory to compare projects.
Which default values does this calculator use?
Only public values: electrolyser CAPEX, other OPEX, stack replacement cost, durability, degradation, energy use, 6 % cost of capital and 25-year lifetime are the defaults of the European Hydrogen Observatory LCOH calculator (Hydrogen Europe, reference year 2024). Solar and wind power costs are IRENA 2023 global averages. You can change every value.
Is the calculation validated?
Yes. With the European Hydrogen Observatory’s own inputs, the tool reproduces the LCOH of the published EHO use cases within 0.2 % (see the validation table on this page). It uses the same method: CAPEX annualised with the capital recovery factor, stack replacements and other OPEX as a share of CAPEX, and energy use averaged over the stack degradation cycle.
Why do operating hours matter so much?
The investment has to be paid back from every kilogram produced. At few operating hours, capital cost per kg rises steeply; above roughly 4,000–5,000 hours the electricity price dominates. Move the slider to see where the curve flattens for your inputs.
How does the NASA button estimate full-load hours?
It requests the 2001–2020 annual average solar irradiance and 50 m wind speed for your coordinates from the free NASA POWER API, converts them into a solar PV and onshore wind capacity factor (fixed-tilt PV with 1.3 DC/AC ratio; modern 135 m turbine), and assumes the electrolyser is sized below the renewable plant (as in the EHO method: ×1.25 for PV, ×1.11 for wind). The assumptions are calibrated so that NASA data reproduce the EHO’s default hours for Malta PV, Spain PV and Irish onshore wind within about 5 %. It is a screening estimate, not a yield assessment.
Does the result include iridium?
For PEM, iridium is part of the stack cost within CAPEX. The panel shows how much of the CAPEX the anode iridium represents at the dated reference price. Use the iridium calculator to compare loadings, including low-iridium OXYGN (PEM) and iridium-free AEM.
Lower the stack cost side of the equation. CENmat develops iridium-free AEM stacks (HYScale), PFAS-free AionFLX™ membranes and low-iridium OXYGN (PEM) catalysts. Talk to us or try the iridium calculator.
sources
- European Hydrogen Observatory (Clean Hydrogen Partnership), Levelised Cost of Hydrogen Calculator and Manual (update 2025), default values by Hydrogen Europe; use cases 1, 2, 4 and 8.
- European Hydrogen Observatory, Electrolyser cost 2025.
- IEA (2025), Global Hydrogen Review 2025, assumptions annex.
- IRENA (2020), Green Hydrogen Cost Reduction, Tables 6–7.
- IRENA (2024), Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2023.
- NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project, Climatology API, funded through the NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program.
- Iridium: Umicore price as of 25 Sep 2026; ECB euro reference rate, 25 Sep 2026.