Assessment of a hydrogen production, storage and utilization system in a demonstrative microgrid

This paper aims to investigate the expected performance of a hydrogen storage system integrated in a microgrid located in Sardinia (Italy). The microgrid includes several energy production and storage systems and serves a building with a number of offices and laboratories. The hydrogen is produced by two hydrogen generators during the weekends, stored in four stainless steel tanks and used in the following weekdays to partially cover the load demand through a fuel cell and to feed a methanation process. A proper modeling of the hydrogen-based microgrid has been developed and the expected performance in terms of annual hydrogen production and postponed use in the fuel cell have been analyzed. A preliminary economic analysis has been finally conducted for investigating the cost-effectiveness of integrating hydrogen production plants in facilities provided by photovoltaic plants and characterized by low electric demand during the weekends.