A Techno-Economic Investigation on Hydrogen Utilization as a Long-term Energy Storage Solution for Microgrids

Abstract

The study aims to demonstrate a standalone PV-Hydrogen-battery microgrid's technical and economic merits in a developing country. Besides having fossil fuel resources, enough renewable energy resources have been deployed in the microgrid to create a sustainable system. The primary renewable energy resource explored is the solar PV system. The diesel-powered generators are integrated to support the system stability in high PV penetration scenarios. In such cases, energy storage options are integrated to store excess electricity, provide sufficient days of autonomy, system stability and virtual inertia. Li-ion based batteries and Hydrogen have received widespread acceptance as a potential renewable energy storage solution for coping with the variability nature of renewable energy resources. In this study, the system is optimized based on the seasonal load and real-life market information. The results reveal that a diesel-PV-Hydrogen-battery microgrid is an efficient and cost-effective configuration for remote communities in Bangladesh.