Green energy hubs for the military that can also support the civilian mobility sector with green hydrogen

Abstract

To support the energy transition in the area of defence, we developed a tool and conducted a feasibility study to transform a military site from being a conventional energy consumer to becoming an energy-positive hub (or prosumer). Coupling a green energy source (e.g., photovoltaic, wind) with fuel cells and hydrogen storage satisfied the dynamic energy consumption and dynamic hydrogen demand for both the civilian and military mobility sectors. To make the military sector independent of its civilian counterpart, a military site was connected to a renewable energy hub. This made it possible to develop a stand-alone green-energy system, transform the military site into a positive energy hub, and achieve autonomous energy operation for several days or weeks. An environmental and economic assessment was conducted to determine the carbon footprint and the economic viability. The combined installed capacity of the solar power plant and the wind turbine was 2.5 times the combined peak consumption, with about 19% of the total electricity and 7% of the hydrogen produced still available to external consumers.