Power-to-gas utilization in optimal sizing of hybrid power, water, and hydrogen microgrids with energy and gas storage

Abstract

Electricity and water have constituted two main requirements of human societies. Water desalination is considered as a prominent source of drinking water for the future needs. Supplying desalination energy and domestic electricity demand is mainly from the grid integrated with the fossil-fuel-powered plants. Additionally, the hydrogen demanded by the industry is currently produced from fossil fuels by reforming. This vast reliance on fossil fuels means high cost and pollution, and also energy security risks. Using renewable resources is a promising way to overcome these problems. However, a portion of the generated power is inevitably curtailed due to various reasons. The Power-to-gas (P2G) is a promising solution to mitigate renewable curtailment mitigation. Accordingly, this paper presents a combined configuration for supplying electricity, water, and hydrogen in a microgrid system integrated with the P2G concept. The microgrid relies on renewable power sources and is supported by the diesel generator and battery storage. The complete P2G cycle, including hydrogen production, storage, consumption, and converting back to electricity by a fuel cell, is modeled and optimized. The hydrogen production is made by the water electrolyze in addition to the gas reforming. Results of the simulations indicate the superiority of P2G utilization. 2021