Copula-based operation strategy for green hydrogen production systems considering coordination with energy storage systems

A recent consensus to achieve carbon neutrality is promoting interest in the use of hydrogen and management of its production system. Among the several types of hydrogen, green hydrogen is of most interest which is produced using power generated from renewable energy sources (RES). However, several challenges are encountered in the stable operation of green hydrogen production systems (GHPS) owing to the inherent intermittent and variable characteristics of RES. Although the implementation of energy storage systems (ESS) can aid in compensating for this variability, large-scale ESS installations can be economically infeasible. Thus, this study seeks an operation strategy suitable for GHPS, considering the expected variability of RES and the operational conditions of a relatively small-sized ESS. In particular, as state-of-charge management is crucial for operating an ESS with limited capacity, this study presents a method to conduct coordinated control between the ESS and electrolyzer. Furthermore, considering the characteristics of the GHPS, the expected short-term variability analyzed using the copula-based approach is utilized. The proposed method is validated based on various RES generation scenarios. By applying the developed method, operational continuity to GHPS is expected to increase with efficiency.