Green Hydrogen in Power Systems

The global transition toward sustainable and low-carbon energy systems has driven significant interest in green hydrogen as a promising energy carrier. Green hydrogen, produced through electrolysis using renewable energy sources, offers a viable solution to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and diversify the energy mix. As the utilization of green hydrogen gains momentum, thorough assessments of its production and utilization processes become imperative to ensure optimal system performance and efficiency. This overview study presents a comprehensive overview of energy and exergy analysis methods applied to green hydrogen power systems. The fundamental principles of energy and exergy analyses are elucidated, highlighting their importance in quantifying energy flows and assessing the system’s thermodynamic efficiency. Key components of green hydrogen power systems, such as hydrogen economy, economic and environmental effects of GH2 production renewable energy sources, electrolyzers, hydrogen storage, and fuel cells, are examined in the context of energy and exergy analysis. The review encompasses a critical examination of various energy and exergy efficiency metrics utilized in green hydrogen production, including process energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, and exergy destruction. Additionally, it delves into the techno-economic analysis of green hydrogen power systems, focusing on identifying opportunities for enhancing system performance and reducing resource consumption.

The adoption of solar systems has witnessed a remarkable growth rate in recent years, driven by increasing awareness of renewable energy and declining costs of solar technology. Solar systems offer several advantages, including abundant energy source, reduced carbon emissions, and potential cost savings. However, they also face challenges such as intermittency, limited energy storage capacity, and grid integration issues. By incorporating hydrogen in smart grids, these drawbacks can be addressed as hydrogen can serve as a means of energy storage, allowing excess solar energy to be stored as hydrogen and utilized during periods of low solar generation. Hydrogen-incorporated smart grids thus provide a complementary solution to enhance the reliability, stability, and scalability of solar systems, facilitating their integration into the broader energy landscape. Consequently, this chapter aims to provide a comprehensive review of green hydrogen-integrated sector-coupled smart grids and presents prospects for future advancements. The background and significance of hydrogen integration within smart grid systems are established. The fundamentals of hydrogen integration, including its role as an energy carrier and its integration within smart grid systems, are explored. The concept of sector coupling in smart grids is examined, emphasizing the interconnection of different energy sectors and the importance of achieving energy system integration. Existing green hydrogen-incorporated smart grid projects are reviewed, and experiences gathered from successful implementations are analyzed. Technological advancements, such as emerging green hydrogen production and storage technologies, are discussed along with smart grid control and management systems for efficient green hydrogen utilization. Economic and environmental considerations are evaluated, encompassing cost analysis, evaluation of environmental impacts, and identification of economic incentives. Future prospects and research directions are explored, aiming to identify key challenges, address gaps, and highlight areas for further investigation. Overall, through this comprehensive review and exploration of future prospects, a deeper understanding of hydrogen-integrated sector-coupled smart grids and their potential for advancing sustainable energy systems can be achieved.

Sustainable energy system requires novel technologies for a low-carbon transition. This chapter presents a detailed economic analysis for a centralized green hydrogen (GH2) power system, as well as this chapter presents an overview of the rising need for clean and renewable energy solutions, stressing the limits of traditional power systems as well as the environmental concerns they cause. To improve the performance of the presented model, the system integrates hydrogen storage, which consists of an electrolyzer and a fuel cell. It highlights the importance of hydrogen as a flexible energy carrier capable of integration of intermittent renewable energy sources. This chapter also applies an optimum coalition technique. In addition, the integration of renewable energy sources, energy storage, and hydrogen-powered cars is being investigated. This chapter is designed based on the centralized GH2 power system and peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading market. In this method, a system operator tries to reduce the overall cost of the microgrid. In this way, P2P energy trading infrastructure and energy storage technologies facilitate and increase the flexibility in this local system. The optimal coalition technique encourages cooperation across many peers inside the system. Some of these peers have renewable energy sources and energy storage systems, which allows for more efficient resource sharing. The advantages of this strategy are discussed, including cost-effectiveness and improved renewable energy integration. The results show the potential for low-cost, which will aid in the transition to a low-carbon future.

The global energy transition toward a sustainable low-carbon future necessitates the integration of renewable energy sources and decentralized energy systems. This chapter explores the techno-economic dimensions of decentralized green hydrogen (GH2) power systems coupled with transactive energy (TE) and peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading markets. These systems hold promise for enhancing renewable energy penetration and establishing a resilient energy infrastructure. The integration of renewable energy, such as solar, wind, and hydro, poses challenges due to their intermittent nature. Decentralized GH2 power systems address these challenges by utilizing renewable sources for electrolytic hydrogen production, facilitating energy storage for periods of low renewable generation.

Incorporating TE and P2P trading markets into decentralized GH2 power systems optimizes energy generation, consumption, and distribution, fostering efficient use of distributed resources and demand response. A comprehensive techno-economic analysis is vital to assess the feasibility of these systems. This study presents a professional examination of the techno-economic aspects of decentralized GH2 power systems and their integration with TE and P2P trading markets. An eight-peer decentralized P2P energy trading system is analyzed, considering various energy resources and storage technologies. The alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) algorithm is employed for optimization. The incorporation of hydrogen storage units enhances energy flexibility and resilience. The decentralized approach enables direct transactions among peers, promoting renewable adoption, reducing reliance on centralized grids and fossil fuels, and offering cost advantages. This study contributes to the understanding of decentralized GH2 power systems and provides insights into effective integration strategies, paving the way for a sustainable and low-carbon energy future.

Renewable energy sources (RES) such as hydro, solar, wind, and geothermal heat reservoirs are good choices for hydrogenation via seawater electrolysis, biological and thermochemical processes. Meanwhile, surplus electrical power products of RES can either be stored by the energy storage technologies or used for generating hydrogen. Hence, this chapter first assesses the status quo, challenges, and outlook of hydrogen production. Then, it provides a comprehensive review on hydrogenation methods from RES. The systematic requirement of these methods, as well as advantages and limitations of each process, are presented. Afterward, some applications of hydrogen in energy systems are introduced. Practical hydrogen storage technologies and GH2 transportation issues are also discussed. International standards and codes associated with green hydrogen are introduced, focusing on aims, scopes, and key technical and environmental restrictions. Finally, the conclusion section will be presented.

This chapter addresses and reviews the definition and role of green hydrogen (GH₂) in transitioning to climate-neutral economies. It also determines the main challenges and barriers to reaching a low-net-zero emission platform by GH₂ and its advantages as an economically sustainable energy resource. In the following, the role of taxes and penalties on available technologies is surveyed to answer how they can lead to a low-net-zero emission concept. Deep discussions on its future roadmap for carbon neutrality and the utilizing technologies such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) to help reach zero emission concept; while focusing on enriching the production of GH₂ and a way for remarkable production of it to increase availability and reduce the price are other aspects that are brought up. Another aspect of this study is passing through various types of H₂ to GH₂. Additionally, further concerns and issues are examined in this chapter.

Biohydrogen, through biological or fermentation processes, is one of the best options for clean energy production, as the process consumes low energy and is more environmentally friendly. The process involves various types of substrates and microorganisms, where, in particular, the microorganisms could be a single or coculture, introduced as free cells or in immobilized form. Among the advantages of immobilized culture in fermentation is its ability to maximize the physical retention of microbial biomass while minimizing mass transfer. Various types of bioreactor setups can be considered to facilitate the fermentation process using immobilized culture, such as continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR), upflow anaerobic sludge bioreactor (UASB), fluidized bed reactor (FBR), and packed/fixed bed reactor (PBR), or either in modified or integrated mode. This chapter focuses on the various bioreactor design that facilitates the fermentation process using immobilized culture for varying substrate and inoculum, both in batch and continuous systems. This chapter also compares the advantages and disadvantages of different bioreactor types, including the biohydrogen production performance of each bioreactor.

This chapter discusses the importance of biomass-based polygeneration systems in producing hydrogen as a clean and safe energy carrier. The benefits of polygeneration systems, which can produce multiple products and minimize waste, are highlighted, and the need for clean and efficient hydrogen production is emphasized. This study gives a brief overview of hydrogen production from biomass-based polygeneration systems, which examines the systems in two main classifications: systems that use biomass as a potential and rich source of hydrogen and systems that exploit the energy content of biomass to run hydrogen production units. Furthermore, a new multigeneration system with hydrogen production has been introduced and thermodynamically evaluated. Also, its results have been obtained in a real situation. Overall, this chapter offers insights into the potential of biomass-based polygeneration systems in meeting energy demands while reducing environmental impact.

Green hydrogen (GH2) is an influential renewable energy technology in the future of renewable energy use that aims to increase the production of green hydrogen, a clean fuel that can help to decarbonize and enhance energy systems. Green hydrogen can also enhance the flexibility of power systems that integrate renewable energies (REs), such as solar and wind. One way to develop a decentralized power system is to integrate solar photovoltaic (PV) with GH2. This system can provide power during the day from solar PV and the night from GH2, which can also store excess energy. This can increase energy independence and reduce the risk of power outages caused by centralized power grids. In this research, optimal strategies in the exploitation of decentralized integrated power systems consisting of hydrogen storage systems and renewable energy production based on solar PV have been investigated and the technical and economic effects of the joint launch of hydrogen energy storage (HES) and solar PV and participation in the electricity market to achieve profitability are evaluated.

Climate changes and the urgent need for clean energy in the international community and the acceleration of the improvement of the green economy add to the importance of hydrogen energy and a strong support for a sustainable society. Due to zero carbon emission, high energy intensity, and high conversion efficiency, hydrogen energy has many advantages over traditional fossil fuels. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that it will reduce the amount of CO₂ to 80 Giga tons by 2050. So far, more than 30 countries and regions have issued green hydrogen (GH2) production strategies. In order to promote the GH2 market globally and evaluate lifecycle and emissions of greenhouse gases, it offers different hydrogen production methods based on official standards. In this chapter, we generally discuss the principles, development rate, significant research points, and technologies and challenges of GH2 production around the world and the general state of global hydrogen energy.

The Chinese government has unveiled its commitment to attain carbon neutrality by 2060. Central to this strategic endeavour is the integration of hydrogen as a preeminent energy vector in the emerging energy paradigm. This chapter analyses the viability of electrolysis as a central mechanism for supplying hydrogen, with a specific focus on green hydrogen sourced from renewable energy power plants in China’s most remote provinces. The analysis considers the interplay between economic considerations and environmental implications of producing and transporting hydrogen from Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Gansu, and Xinjiang to China’s leading industrial centres, specifically, the Jing-Jin-Ji cluster, the Pearl River Delta, and the Yangtze River Delta, for the years 2030, 2040, and 2060. The hydrogen to be transported is considered to be stored via two-way liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOCH), particularly toluene-methylcyclohexane and dibenzyltoluene-perhydro-dibenzyltoluene. The study concludes that a synergy between remote renewable energy generation, advanced LOHC-based hydrogen storage mechanisms, and strategic trans-provincial transportation networks can contribute to realizing China’s carbon neutrality targets.

The rapid growth of the global energy demand coupled with concerns over climate change has triggered a pressing need to transition toward more sustainable and environmentally friendly energy sources. The European Union (EU) recognizes the potential of green hydrogen and has invested significantly in research and development (R&D) projects to foster its widespread adoption. EU has launched several research and development initiatives under the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programs to promote the development of green hydrogen technologies. Green hydrogen (GH2) can play a significant part in the decarbonization of the energy sector and is produced by electrolyzing water using renewable energy sources, including wind and solar electricity. In this chapter, we review the current state of research and development in green hydrogen technologies in the EU, focusing on the Horizon projects and analyze the main objectives, activities, and outcomes of the Horizon projects related to green hydrogen, and discuss the implications for the future of energy systems in the EU. In other words, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of the Green Hydrogen Research and Development Projects in the European Union, focusing on initiatives undertaken between 2010 and 2023. The main objective is to assess progress in advancing green hydrogen technologies, identify key challenges, and evaluate the impacts on the EU’s energy landscape. The EU’s ambitious commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 has driven these efforts.

The integration of hydrogen in smart grids offers key benefits such as energy storage, sector coupling, and decentralized generation. By utilizing hydrogen as a clean energy carrier, smart grids can enhance grid flexibility, support the integration of various energy sectors, and contribute to decarbonization efforts for a sustainable energy future. In this case, a comprehensive overview of U.S. projects focused on integrating hydrogen technologies into smart electrical power systems is presented in this chapter, highlighting the significance of green hydrogen (GH2) and its role in shaping the future of the power sector. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) plays a pivotal role in advancing GH2 technologies, encompassing projects in hydrogen production, storage, fuel cells, and integrated energy systems. Collaborative efforts through the Western Green Hydrogen Initiative aim to establish a regional GH2 economy in the western United States. Utilizing existing industrial infrastructure, the Gulf Coast Clean Energy Application Center facilitates GH2 development along the Gulf Coast by identifying opportunities, supporting project development, and fostering collaboration among industry stakeholders. The Hawaii Hydrogen Initiative focuses on Hawaii’s ambitious renewable energy goals and explores the integration of GH2 through demonstration projects and sector collaboration. Supported by the California Energy Commission, the California Hydrogen Infrastructure Project focuses on developing hydrogen infrastructure, including refueling stations and the deployment of fuel-cell electric vehicles. The Los Angeles Green Hydrogen Power-to-Gas Project converts excess renewable electricity to hydrogen through electrolysis, injecting it into the natural gas pipeline system for power generation, heating, and transportation. The Advanced Clean Energy Storage (ACES) Project aims to enhance grid reliability, integrate renewable energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the development of large-scale GH2 production facilities for power generation and transportation. Projects in Hawaii and Utah integrate wind and solar power with hydrogen production and storage, providing flexible and dispatchable energy resources. Additional projects include the New York Offshore Wind-to-Hydrogen Project, which utilizes offshore wind energy for GH2 production, and initiatives in the Pacific Northwest and Texas Gulf Coast regions that leverage renewable resources and industrial infrastructure to establish hydrogen hubs. Accordingly, these U.S. projects demonstrate the advancements in hydrogen-combined smart electrical power systems. GH2 technologies have the potential to drive a sustainable and resilient energy future, enabling the integration of renewable energy sources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in smart sustainable cities and grids.

The continuous growth of greenhouse gas emissions has led to the adoption of new policies and decisions to deal with climate change. Changing the current energy systems to sustainable ones with minimal pollution is achieved by using various techniques such as energy efficiency and the combination of different energy systems and sectors. Hydrogen is a clean and stable energy carrier that releases only water as a byproduct with no carbon dioxide emission and simultaneously converts it into electricity. It can easily be transported from the production site to the utilization/storage centers using pipeline networks or trucks. In this regard, the power-to-hydrogen concept for supply of storage, demand management, and the combination of various elements between different sectors has attracted considerable attention. In this chapter, the developments and prospects of hydrogenated technologies in power systems including their application in power systems for hydrogen production will be reviewed.