The transformation of society in ecological, economic and social terms are the three interlinked challenges of our generation. The destabilizing economic and social consequences of the climate crisis underscore an urgent need for a global economy based on renewable energy. Despite decades of research and a variety of approaches in science and industry, there has been no significant breakthrough in the implementation and operationalization of renewable energy. A major cause of this stagnation is the absence of a holistic approach to energy procurement, which could guarantee a continuous power supply on the basis of regenerative energy sources. Within the scope of the H2-DemoLab project, we are developing a holistic system that aims to completely transform energy supplies. 

Innovation and intended results
The key innovation lies in the development and implementation of a hydrogen-based energy system powered by renewable energy sources and represented by the help of an optimization model. Our integrated model virtually replicates the connection to an energy grid with sector coupling, thereby enabling an analysis of the dynamic system behavior in process. Subsequently, this project differs from previous approaches, in which mainly individual components (e.g. photovoltaics, electrolysis, fuel cells or storage) are considered and optimized, whilst the interaction of the different components as a single system was overlooked.

Presentation of the entire system with intersections to the planned pilot municipalities.

© FH Salzburg

Presentation of the planned overall system with interfaces to the project partners

Work package of the TU Wien: Development of the optimization model (WP4)

First, a dynamic simulation model will be established, taking into account the results from WP2 and WP3. Secondly, optimization of the operating model will be developed taking into account the electricity/hydrogen demand. This will allow the calculation of optimal schedules for these plants in order to operate an optimal storage management. Finally,  the model will analyze the dynamic simulated behavior of the system by using specific scenarios of energy supply and demand. In this way, the sector coupling potential between electric and hydro grid - which depends on the dynamic load profile of the electrolysis system - can also be evaluated.

The modeling and simulation will be computer-aided (interfaces to MATLAB and Python, respectively) and validated with measured values from the demonstration plant and the uscases. The optimization model should be able to virtually represent both scheduled operations and continuous operations for H2 storage (i.e mapping of different optimization requirements for grid stabilization operation vs. continuous operation).