Energy management system for minimizing hydrogen production cost using integrated battery energy storage and photovoltaic systems

The integration of electrolyzer and photovolatic (PV) systems has proven its economical feasibility for dean hydrogen production. However, the uncertainty associated with solar energy has impact on the reliability of clean hydrogen production. Economical dispatch for the hydrogen system integrated with PV and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) can be used to maintain high hydrogen production reliability and efficiency. In this work, an optimal economical dispatch model for reliable scheduling operations of clean hydrogen production system is proposed. The model aims to minimize Cost-of-Hydrogen (CoH) production through; i) minimizing total system costs, ii) maximizing hydrogen production efficiency, and iii) maximizing solar energy utilization. The model takes into consideration CoH production sensitivity to the variation of electrolyzer efficiency. Electrochemical hydrogen production mechanism and operational balance constraints are incorporated into the optimization model to guarantee accurate and stable system performance. The simulation results verified the economical feasibility of the proposed dispatch model in terms of meeting hydrogen demand, system stability, and storage capability. The optimization results revealed that the average CoH production for the proposed model is 2.67/kg during the studied period. The results of this study highlights the correlation between hydrogen production rate, electrolyzer efficiency, and CoH production. A comparative analysis with and without the consideration of the variability of the electrolyzer efficiency indicates the efficacy and feasibility of the proposed model in minimizing hydrogen production costs and maximizing solar power utilization.