Techno-economic analysis and optimization of hydrogen production from renewable hybrid energy systems: Shagaya renewable power plant-Kuwait

The present study examines the potential for hydrogen production using the hybrid energy system at the Shagaya renewable power plant. Techno-economic and optimization analyses are used to identify the optimum configurations that reduce costs while increasing the renewable fraction and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Three configurations were considered, exploring on- and off-grid combinations of photovoltaic solar (PV), wind turbine (WT), fuel cells and batteries. Integrating PV solar with wind power connected to the power grid was found to achieve the lowest levelized cost of energy of 0.539$/kWh and a hydrogen production cost of 6.85$/kg. However, for the stand-alone system where battery storage banks or fuel cells are used, the cost of hydrogen increases to more than 8.0$/kg due to the larger capital cost of the system. The optimized system achieves annual green hydrogen production of 111 877 kg along with an annual carbon dioxide emission reduction of 14 819 kg. A sensitivity analysis proves that COE is more sensitive to PV price than wind turbines and electrolyzers. LCOE falls by 32.3% to 0.365 kWh when the PV unit price drops to 50%. The LCOE falls by 4% to 0.517 kWh when WT costs decrease by 50%.