Technoeconomic Models for the Optimal Inclusion of Hydrogen Trains in Electricity Markets

Abstract

Hydrogen-based railway (Hydrail) vehicles are rising as a solution that decreases the environmental impact caused by carbon emissions from diesel engines and at the same time avoids the enormous capital costs associated with direct electrification (DE) of rail lines. This article introduces new technoeconomic models for the inclusion of Hydrail in electricity markets. Exploiting the size and flexibility that large Hydrail electricity demand imparts, price-taker and price-maker scenarios are outlined and compared. Furthermore, this article presents a novel optimal scheduling mechanism for the hydrogen electrolysis process chosen for hydrogen production in the models. This mechanism minimizes electricity costs based on a linear programming model which optimizes the energy drawn from the grid for hydrogen generation, incorporating hydrogen reservoir capabilities and hydrogen input and output rates. This article proves the strengths of these new technoeconomic models for the inclusion of Hydrail in electricity markets and the effectiveness of the optimal scheduling mechanism, through a case study for the deployment of a Hydrail system in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Ontario’s electricity market. After comparison to a DE option, this article presents Hydrail as a strong option for the evolution of sustainable, integrated, cost-effective, and low-carbon-emission solution for public transportation.