Optimal allocation of power-to-hydrogen units in regional power grids for green hydrogen trading: Opportunities and barriers

Abstract

Due to the increasing hydrogen demands, a strong sense of commitment has recently been found to take advantage of the economic opportunities offered by power-to-hydrogen (P2H) units considering the high penetration of renewable energy sources (RESs). Deriving a market participation model for extracting green hydrogen with special attention to the grid code requirements is a fundamental challenge that has not yet been addressed. Motivated by this challenge, this paper presents a stochastic security-constrained optimal power flow (SSC-OPF) model to optimally allocate P2H units in renewable-dominated regional power grids. The main aim of the proposed planning model is to maximize the profit of power grid operators by extracting as much green hydrogen as possible and delivering it to the downstream industries. The presented model covers essential operational constraints, reserve adequacy issues, conservation voltage reduction, and uncertain behavior of demands and RESs to ensure the realistic operation of power grids. Moreover, the net present value of the proposed model is calculated to determine the profitability rate of using P2H units according to business models. The applicability of the proposed model is examined on the extended IEEE 30-bus and IEEE 118-bus test systems. The simulation results show that the use of P2H units in combination with RESs not only makes power grids more profitable but also improves the technical parameters.