Techno-Economic Analysis of a Stand-Alone Hybrid Wind-Power Fuel-Cell Grid System: A Case Study in Shahryar Region of Tehran

Abstract

Abstract Decreasing fossil energy resources and increasing greenhouse gas emissions increase the need for clean and renewable energy sources day by day. One of the sources of renewable energy is wind power, which has been constantly evolving in recent years. Wind power plants are sometimes unresponsive during peak hours, so a backup storage system seems essential for these power plants. In this study, a hybrid system is presented for connection to wind power plants consisting of fuel cell and hydrogen production, to provide reliable power and valuable by-products. In this paper, a case study is conducted for the desired system in the Shahryar County. The techno-economic optimization of the above system indicates that in the best design (consisting of three wind turbines), the annual production capacity of the hybrid system will be 1795 MWh, of which 12 % is the share of fuel cells. The results show that the hybrid system increases the capacity factor of the wind power plant by 2.8 %. The calculated cost of energy (COE) and the net present cost (NPC) for the hybrid system would amount to $ 0.77 and $ 5 235.066, respectively.