Economic and Technical Evaluation of Hydrogen Storage in Hybrid Renewable Systems with Demand-Side Management: Upper Egypt Case Study

Abstract

To address the intermittent nature of solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy systems, the deployment of multiple energy storage facilities has been significantly expanded, enhancing power system reliability and flexibility toward sustainable energy solutions. This paper focuses on analyzing energy systems that utilize different energy storage options, including battery energy storage system (BESS) and hydrogen energy storage (HES). In this context, this study aims to evaluate the techno-economic and environmental impacts of integrating a hydrogen energy storage (HES) facility comprising an electrolyzer, fuel cell, and hydrogen tank into a hybrid PV/wind/battery energy storage system (BESS). Three different systems have been considered in this analysis. In this paper, three systems are considered: a diesel generator, a hybrid renewable energy system without demand-side management (DSM), and a hybrid renewable energy system with DSM. This study aims to develop a model for electricity generation based on various combinations of hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) using HOMER energy software in Upper Egypt, specifically focusing on Qena City and Hurghada City. The primary objectives are to identify the optimal configuration of a hybrid renewable energy system that reliably, continuously, and sustainably meets the load requirements of these locations, while minimizing the total system's net present cost and the cost of energy (COE) through multi-objective analysis with HOMER Pro software. The simulation results using HOMER Pro software indicate that adopting demand-side management (DSM) results in the lowest net present cost (NPC) values for both Qena and Hurghada, at 798,614 and 646,046, respectively. Additionally, hydrogen production increases to approximately 953 kg/year in Qena and 850 kg/year in Hurghada, alongside reductions in post-DSM load and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The comparative analysis shows that the diesel system contributes 124,654 kg/year of CO2 emissions. In contrast, the proposed hybrid system with DSM significantly reduces CO2 emissions to 0.275 kg/year in Qena and 0.0666 kg/year in Hurghada.