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Build a hydrogen operating budget from production, delivered volume, electricity expense and selling prices. Follow the spreadsheet formulas, a power-price scenario and the checks that reconcile unit cost and cash.
A green hydrogen financial model connects delivered kilograms, electricity expense and selling prices to operating margin and cash needs. Build the monthly operating schedule from production records, delivery tickets, utility invoices and the expense ledger. Keep every scenario's assumptions visible so a change in power price is distinguishable from a change in output.
DOE describes electrolysis as using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. For finance, that means purchased electricity needs its own quantity and expense lines instead of disappearing into general overhead.
Use the production plan and electricity-sourcing assumptions approved by the operator. This worksheet prices the supplied operating assumptions; it does not establish an environmental designation. Keep the finance schedule separate from equipment selection or process design.
Collect gross production, delivered kilograms, delivery dates, net selling prices, purchased kWh and operating expenses. State whether delivery costs run to the plant gate or to the customer's receiving point. Revenue and costs need the same boundary, or a higher selling price may simply reflect more delivery work.
This example includes hydrogen sales only and excludes incentive receipts, financing flows, interest and income taxes. The capital versus operating budget guide explains where capital spending belongs.
An illustrative US producer uses the assumptions below for a 30-day month. These are arithmetic inputs, not performance targets or market price benchmarks. Place labels in column A and values in column B, beginning below the row 1 headers.
| Row | Input | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Reference production, kg/day | 5,000 |
| 3 | Days in period | 30 |
| 4 | Utilization against reference output | 80% |
| 5 | Delivered share of gross production | 95% |
| 6 | Net selling price, USD/delivered kg | 6.00 |
| 7 | Purchased electricity allowance, kWh/gross kg | 55 |
| 8 | Electricity usage price, USD/kWh | 0.05 |
| 9 | Other variable expense, USD/gross kg | 0.40 |
| 10 | Delivery expense, USD/delivered kg | 0.30 |
| 11 | Fixed operating expense, USD | 120,000 |
Fixed expense includes payroll, occupancy and scheduled demand charges in this example. The electricity usage price excludes those fixed charges. Avoid putting the same charge in both places. The electricity allowance represents all purchased operating electricity inside this budget's boundary.
Enter these Excel expressions in the labeled cells:
B14 = B2*B3*B4
B15 = B14*B5
B16 = B15*B6
B17 = B14*B7
B18 = B17*B8
B19 = B14*B9
B20 = B15*B10
B21 = SUM(B18:B20)+B11
B22 = B16-B21
B23 = B21/B15
B14:B17 calculate gross production, deliveries, revenue and purchased kWh. B18:B21 calculate electricity, other variable expense, delivery expense and total operating cost. B22 is operating surplus and B23 is cost per delivered kilogram.
The manufacturing financial model covers the broader output-and-cost framework. The hydrogen schedule needs its own electricity and delivery boundaries.
Increase only the electricity usage price from $0.05 to $0.06 per kWh. Hold all other inputs constant, including production and fixed demand charges. Costs per kilogram are displayed to two decimal places; calculations retain the unrounded values.
| Measure | Base | Higher electricity price |
|---|---|---|
| Gross production, kg | 120,000 | 120,000 |
| Delivered quantity, kg | 114,000 | 114,000 |
| Purchased electricity, kWh | 6,600,000 | 6,600,000 |
| Sales revenue, USD | 684,000 | 684,000 |
| Electricity expense, USD | 330,000 | 396,000 |
| Other variable expense, USD | 48,000 | 48,000 |
| Delivery expense, USD | 34,200 | 34,200 |
| Fixed operating expense, USD | 120,000 | 120,000 |
| Total operating cost, USD | 532,200 | 598,200 |
| Operating surplus, USD | 151,800 | 85,800 |
| Operating cost, USD/delivered kg | 4.67 | 5.25 |
Gross production is 5,000 × 30 × 80% = 120,000 kg. Deliveries are 120,000 × 95% = 114,000 kg. The base cost is $330,000 + $48,000 + $34,200 + $120,000 = $532,200; dividing by 114,000 gives $4.67 per delivered kilogram after rounding.
The price change adds 6,600,000 × ($0.06 − $0.05) = $66,000 to electricity expense. Surplus falls by the same amount: $151,800 − $66,000 = $85,800. This is monthly operating cost, before depreciation or capital recovery, rather than a lifetime project cost.
The production bridge is 120,000 kg = 114,000 delivered kg + 6,000 kg not delivered. The example assumes no opening or closing hydrogen inventory. If inventory exists, add its movement before treating the remaining difference as loss.
Tie delivered quantities to tickets and revenue to sales rows. Microsoft documents SUMPRODUCT for multiplying corresponding ranges and adding the products. With delivered kilograms in Sales!B2:B50 and net prices in Sales!C2:C50, revenue is:
=SUMPRODUCT(Sales!B2:B50,Sales!C2:C50)
Covirage is not affiliated with Microsoft. Keep prices at full precision for this check rather than averaging customer prices.
Complete the base cash bridge with working capital and capital purchases:
| Cash bridge | Amount (USD) |
|---|---|
| Opening cash | 200,000 |
| Operating surplus | 151,800 |
| Less receivables increase | 40,000 |
| Less supplies inventory increase | 10,000 |
| Add operating payables increase | 20,000 |
| Operating cash before interest and tax | 121,800 |
| Less capital spending | 50,000 |
| Ending cash before interest and tax | 271,800 |
With opening cash, receivables increase, supplies inventory increase, payables increase, capital spending and ending cash in B26:B31, this must return zero:
=B26+B22-B27-B28+B29-B30-B31
The bridge assumes no other cash movements.
Upload completed scenario outputs, delivery tickets and utility-expense rows to Covirage. Covirage maps the columns, its tools compute and check the supplied figures, and the external AI model explains the differences with every figure traced to its rows. Create a free Covirage account, which takes about a minute, then set up your business and bring a sample of your own data.
See Covirage for project cost control for the supporting workflow.
Start with approved production capacity, operating days, utilization, delivered kilograms and selling price. Add purchased electricity, its price, other variable expenses and fixed operating costs. Receivables, supplies inventory, supplier payables and capital spending complete the monthly cash view.
Divide the operating expenses inside your stated delivery boundary by delivered kilograms for the same period. Include costs incurred on production that was not delivered. Keep capital recovery and financing costs separate so readers can distinguish operating unit cost from a full project cost measure.
No. Delivered volume, realized hydrogen price and other operating costs also determine the result. Lower utilization can leave fixed expenses spread over fewer deliveries. Calculate each prepared scenario with its own approved inputs and compare the resulting dollars and unit costs.