Techno-economic analysis of hydrogen buffers for distributed energy systems

Massive utilization of fossil fuels presents serious environmental threats. In this context, today the development of renewable energies is an urgent issue. Due to the stochastic nature of renewable energy sources an energy storage is needed in renewable energy generation systems. Hydrogen-based energy storage system or hydrogen buffer can help to stabilize unregulated renewable energy generation. In the hydrogen buffer system, the excess wind energy is stored in the form of hydrogen via conversion through the electrolyzer. The fuel cell is used to produce electrical power when the load demand exceeds that produced by the renewable energy sources. Hydrogen buffer includes two main operational stages: electrochemical and power electrical. This paper explores the techno-economic analysis of the electrochemical stage of the hydrogen buffer in order to increase the efficiency of hydrogen production in the renewable energy system.