A common assumption is that oxyhydrogen combustion enhancement only pays where electricity is cheap. That's only half the picture. The generator uses electricity; the benefit is fuel you don't burn. What decides the economics is the ratio between the two prices, measured per unit of energy.
Natural gas boilers: the margin between gas and electricity prices is usually larger than with biomass, which favours the economics. In our experience, fuel savings on gas boilers are typically in the 6–10% range, and each installation is assessed from actual site data before any commitment is made. The calculator below is set up for biomass; for a gas boiler, contact us with your boiler and price data.
The arithmetic
A 4 tonne-per-hour steam boiler (about 2.5 GJ per tonne of steam, 80% efficiency on the fuel's net calorific value) burns about 3,470 kWh of fuel energy every hour. A HydroHub™ generator sized for it draws about 20 kW of electricity. So every 1% of fuel saved is roughly 35 kWh of fuel energy against 20 kWh of electricity.
A note on percentages: a 13% improvement in steam-to-fuel ratio means 11.5% less fuel for the same steam (1 − 1/1.13).
Break-even
The saving pays when electricity costs less than this many times the price of fuel, per kWh of energy:
| Fuel saving | Electricity can cost up to |
|---|---|
| 11.5% (13% steam-to-fuel improvement) | about 20× the fuel price |
| 5% | about 8.7× |
| 3% | about 5.2× |
| 2% | about 3.5× |
What the ratio looks like today
| Market | Electricity | Fuel | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU average | €0.184/kWh (Eurostat, medium-sized non-household users, excl. VAT, H2 2025) | wood chips ~€10.2/GJ (~€0.037/kWh), CIF north-west Europe, mid-2026 (Argus) | about 5× |
| Germany | €0.226/kWh (same basis) | as above | about 6× |
| Finland / Sweden | €0.075 / €0.097/kWh (same basis) | domestic forest chips about €0.025/kWh (indicative) | about 3–4× (indicative) |
| India | about ₹7–9/kWh (indicative) | rice husk/briquettes, about ₹1.4/kWh of energy (indicative) | about 5–6× (indicative) |
Prices vary by site, contract and season; large plants often pay less for electricity, and delivered fuel prices differ from port prices. Use your own.
What this means
On price alone, Europe is not worse than India: the ratio is similar, and the Nordics are more favourable. The deciding factor at any site is how much fuel the boiler actually saves, which is why every HydroHub™ engagement starts with a baseline and a steam-to-fuel ratio measured on your own plant. Plants that run long hours (district heating, process steam, glasshouses) recover the investment fastest.
I'm the founder of YBG Group International, which supplies HydroHub™ systems. Figures are illustrative and not a guarantee of savings at any site.
Illustrative estimate
Savings calculator
Enter your own figures. Prices are used as entered, in the currency you choose; no conversion is applied. The starting prices are the EU average from the table above; replace them with your own.
Average over operating hours, not nameplate.
Default 5 kW per t/h of steam; total input including auxiliaries.
1–15%. Your actual saving can only be established by measurement on your plant.
Results — illustrative estimate
- Your price ratio (electricity ÷ fuel, per kWh)
- 5.0×
- Break-even fuel saving
- 3.0%
- Annual fuel cost (before saving)
- €1,912,500
- Annual fuel cost saved
- €191,250
- Annual electricity cost
- €55,200
- Annual consumables (water and electrolyte)
- €1,338.75
- Annual net saving
- €134,711
Equipment and installation cost not included.
Working
- Fuel price = €10.20/GJ = €0.0367/kWh
- Fuel energy = 10 t/h × 2.5 GJ/t ÷ 80% = 31.25 GJ/h (8,681 kWh/h)
- Fuel saved = 31.25 GJ/h × 10% = 3.125 GJ/h → €31.87/h
- Electricity = 50 kW × €0.184/kWh = €9.20/h
- Fuel cost saved = €31.87/h × 6000 h = €191,250
- Electricity cost = €9.20/h × 6000 h = €55,200
- Annual fuel cost = 31.25 GJ/h × €10.20/GJ × 6000 h = €1,912,500
- Annual consumables = €1,912,500 × 0.07% = €1,338.75
- Net saving = €191,250 − €55,200 − €1,338.75 = €134,711
- Price ratio = €0.184 ÷ €0.0367 = 5.01×
- Break-even saving = (electricity + consumables) ÷ annual fuel cost = 2.96%
Assumptions used
- Boiler efficiency and fuel price on the same net (LHV) basis.
- Generator input is total electrical input, including auxiliaries.
- Steam output is the average over operating hours, not nameplate.
- The energy content of the oxyhydrogen itself is ignored.
- Not included: equipment cost, installation, maintenance and electricity demand charges.
- Your actual saving can only be established by measurement on your plant.