Performance evaluation of wind-solar-hydrogen system for renewable energy generation and green hydrogen generation and storage: Energy, exergy, economic, and enviroeconomic

This study presents an assessment of the energy, exergy, economic, and environmental aspects of a novel wind-solar-hydrogen multi-energy supply (WSH-MES) system. The design of the electric-thermal-hydrogen generation system utilizes photovoltaic, wind power, solar thermal power generation, electrolytic cell, hydrogen storage tank, and proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The fuel cell serves as a peak power source and shares the power load with the other renewable energy sources, smoothing out the fluctuations in wind and photovoltaic power generation through controlled solar thermal power generation and hydrogen production. A case study of the proposed system was conducted in Zhangbei, China, using MATLAB/Simulink software. The results show that the system has the potential to produce 931.39 kg of hydrogen per year, with an energy efficiency of 16.03% and an exergy efficiency of 17.94%. The economic analysis reveals that Zhangbei has the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of 0.2755 $/kWh and the highest net present value (NPV) of 5.06 M$. The payback time is approximately 3 years, and the system is expected to reduce 4,220,000 tons of CO2 over its lifetime. The integration of multiple renewable energy sources and hydrogen production in the WSH-MES system enhances the utilization rate of renewable energy and offers a promising solution for sustainable energy production and utilization.