Hydrogen production to combat power surpluses in hybrid hydro–wind–photovoltaic power systems

Abstract

The complementary operation of hydropower, photovoltaic, and wind power can promote the integration of renewable energy resources into the grid. However, the competition of power transmission channels among multiple energy raises surpluses significantly. This study equips a hydrogen production plant for the hydro–wind–PV hybrid system to utilize the power surplus. First, a multi-scale nested joint operation model that considers both long-term and short-term operation strategies is proposed to simulate the operation process of the hybrid system. Then, the potential surplus of the system is evaluated and used as the power source of the hydrogen production plant. Lastly, the optimal hydrogen production plant size is determined based on economic and technical analysis. A case study is performed with the Yalong River basin of China. The results show that (McElroy and Chen, 2017 (1)) The deployment of a 260 MW hydrogen production system has the potential to boost the annual power generation benefit of the hybrid system by 610 million CNY； (2) The fluctuation of hydropower station output is effectively reduced, subsequently mitigating operational risks. Especially during flood season, the power variation coefficient experiences a notable decrease of approximately 75%； Liu and Xu (2022) (3) The deployment of hydrogen production plants is more economically feasible than expanding power transmission channels, particularly when considering long-distance power transmission. Furthermore, given that hydrogen production plants frequently operate under fluctuating power conditions, the electrolyzers and compressors must exhibit prompt responsiveness to these power variations.