| dc.description.abstract | The increasing adaption of renewable energy sources (RES), with intermittent and nondispatchable
production output, requires an increased effort to continuously balance supply
to meet demand in electricity grids. Failing to establish this balance can lead to blackouts.
Energy storage technologies can be applied to increase the utilization of RES and maintain
a balanced grid. This is especially relevant for stand-alone systems that are unable to
import or export electricity. A technology showing great potential in resolving this issue
is the production and storage of hydrogen gas (Power-to-Hydrogen, PtH2) utilizing excess
electricity.
This thesis seeks to answer what combinations of production and storage technologies in
a stand-alone, multi-energy system (MES), make PtH2 a cost-effective option to balance
production and demand. To do this, a mixed integer linear programming model (MILP)
is developed and applied to a case study on the Faroe Islands.
The model objective is defined to minimize lifetime costs of acquiring, installing and
operating the system components while continuously satisfying demand. The model
optimizes the system based on one year of input data with hourly resolution. Through
six distinct scenarios, each containing different combinations of technologies, we create
hypothetical environments with unique characteristics to uncover when PtH2 is a costeffective
method of balancing a stand-alone grid. Three sensitivity analyses are conducted
to asses how the cost-effectiveness of PtH2 is affected by shifting production towards RES.
The results show that PtH2 can be a cost-effective technology, significantly contributing
to reduced lifetime costs of a stand-alone energy system. However, some prerequisites
are needed for this to be the case. Specifically, PtH2 is cost-effective when large hydro
power capacities are unavailable and there is a focus on shifting production from diesel
generators towards renewable production. In cases where large capacities in hydro power
or diesel generation is available, PtH2 does not prove to reduce total costs of the system.
Keywords – Power-to-Hydrogen, Multi-Energy System, Grid-Balancing, Renewable
Energy Sources, Energy Storage, Optimization, Mathematical Programming, MILP | en_US |
