IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v241y2025ics0960148124022638.html

Optimal design of fully renewable and dispatchable power plants with hydrogen seasonal storage

Author

Listed:
  • Pilotti, Lorenzo
  • Castelli, Alessandro Francesco
  • Martelli, Emanuele

Abstract

The objective of this work is to assess the cost of electricity and the optimal design of fully-renewable energy systems using green hydrogen as seasonal energy storage. The study considers measured hourly data of the electricity demand in Sicily (Italy), as well as the electricity generation from photovoltaic plants and wind turbines. The cost optimal design of the aggregated energy system is performed by formulating and solving a mixed integer linear programming model including design and operational variables. Results show that the configuration with the hybrid storage (hydrogen + batteries) solution achieves the lowest cost of electricity. However, the economic advantage compared to the design case with batteries depends mainly on the H2 storage cost. If H2 is stored in pressurized tanks, the cost saving compared to the use of batteries is limited (215 €/MWh vs. 213 €/MWh in the current scenario, 123 €/MWh vs. 128 €/MWh with 2050 projections). The cost saving becomes considerable if a more economic geological H2 storage system is available: 192 €/MWh vs. 213 €/MWh in the current scenario, 97 €/MWh vs. 128 €/MWh for the 2050 scenario.

Suggested Citation

  • Pilotti, Lorenzo & Castelli, Alessandro Francesco & Martelli, Emanuele, 2025. "Optimal design of fully renewable and dispatchable power plants with hydrogen seasonal storage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:241:y:2025:i:c:s0960148124022638
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2024.122195
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148124022638
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2024.122195?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pilotti, L. & Colombari, M. & Castelli, A.F. & Binotti, M. & Giaconia, A. & Martelli, E., 2023. "Simultaneous design and operational optimization of hybrid CSP-PV plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    2. Mancarella, Pierluigi, 2014. "MES (multi-energy systems): An overview of concepts and evaluation models," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1-17.
    3. Gabrielli, Paolo & Gazzani, Matteo & Martelli, Emanuele & Mazzotti, Marco, 2018. "Optimal design of multi-energy systems with seasonal storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 408-424.
    4. Heendeniya, Charitha Buddhika & Sumper, Andreas & Eicker, Ursula, 2020. "The multi-energy system co-planning of nearly zero-energy districts – Status-quo and future research potential," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    5. Castelli, Alessandro Francesco & Pilotti, Lorenzo & Monchieri, Alessandro & Martelli, Emanuele, 2024. "Optimal design of aggregated energy systems with (N-1) reliability: MILP models and decomposition algorithms," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 356(C).
    6. Tatiana Gabderakhmanova & Mattia Marinelli, 2022. "Multi-Energy System Demonstration Pilots on Geographical Islands: An Overview across Europe," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-26, May.
    7. Elsido, Cristina & Bischi, Aldo & Silva, Paolo & Martelli, Emanuele, 2017. "Two-stage MINLP algorithm for the optimal synthesis and design of networks of CHP units," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 403-426.
    8. Buttler, Alexander & Spliethoff, Hartmut, 2018. "Current status of water electrolysis for energy storage, grid balancing and sector coupling via power-to-gas and power-to-liquids: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2440-2454.
    9. Fred Glover, 1975. "Improved Linear Integer Programming Formulations of Nonlinear Integer Problems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 455-460, December.
    10. Wang, D. & Parkinson, S. & Miao, W. & Jia, H. & Crawford, C. & Djilali, N., 2013. "Hierarchical market integration of responsive loads as spinning reserve," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 229-238.
    11. Pandžić, Hrvoje & Kuzle, Igor & Capuder, Tomislav, 2013. "Virtual power plant mid-term dispatch optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 134-141.
    12. Zatti, Matteo & Gabba, Marco & Freschini, Marco & Rossi, Michele & Gambarotta, Agostino & Morini, Mirko & Martelli, Emanuele, 2019. "k-MILP: A novel clustering approach to select typical and extreme days for multi-energy systems design optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 1051-1063.
    13. Teichgraeber, Holger & Brandt, Adam R., 2019. "Clustering methods to find representative periods for the optimization of energy systems: An initial framework and comparison," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 1283-1293.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dipierro, Vincenzo & Pilotti, Lorenzo & Pineros, Sebastian Jimenez & Martelli, Emanuele, 2026. "My-AESOPT: A systematic approach for the optimal investment planning and design of aggregated energy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 403(PA).
    2. Ramachandran, Siddharth & Bhogilla, Satya Sekhar & Kuo, Jenn-Kun, 2026. "Hybrid solar transcritical CO2 and green hydrogen loop for sustainable off-grid energy: Performance analysis and techno-economic optimization," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    3. Reza, M.S. & Fattah, I.M.R. & Wang, Junkai & Hannan, M.A. & Zainal, B.S. & Ong, Hwai Chyuan & Mahlia, T.M.I., 2026. "Hydrogen-based hybrid energy system: A review of technologies, optimization approaches, objectives, constraints, applications, and outstanding issues," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 226(PA).
    4. Superchi, Francesco & Bianchini, Alessandro, 2026. "Development of a MILP optimization framework to design grid-connected microgrids: enhancing operational synergy among wind, solar, batteries, and hydrogen storage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(PG).
    5. Marocco, Paolo & Gandiglio, Marta & Santarelli, Massimo, 2026. "Optimising green hydrogen production across Europe: How renewable energy sources shape plant design and costs," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(PH).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xia, Tian & Huang, Wujing & Lu, Xi & Zhang, Ning & Kang, Chongqing, 2020. "Planning district multiple energy systems considering year-round operation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    2. Dipierro, Vincenzo & Pilotti, Lorenzo & Pineros, Sebastian Jimenez & Martelli, Emanuele, 2026. "My-AESOPT: A systematic approach for the optimal investment planning and design of aggregated energy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 403(PA).
    3. Teichgraeber, Holger & Brandt, Adam R., 2022. "Time-series aggregation for the optimization of energy systems: Goals, challenges, approaches, and opportunities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    4. Zatti, Matteo & Gabba, Marco & Freschini, Marco & Rossi, Michele & Gambarotta, Agostino & Morini, Mirko & Martelli, Emanuele, 2019. "k-MILP: A novel clustering approach to select typical and extreme days for multi-energy systems design optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 1051-1063.
    5. Guelpa, Elisa & Bischi, Aldo & Verda, Vittorio & Chertkov, Michael & Lund, Henrik, 2019. "Towards future infrastructures for sustainable multi-energy systems: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 2-21.
    6. Martelli, Emanuele & Freschini, Marco & Zatti, Matteo, 2020. "Optimization of renewable energy subsidy and carbon tax for multi energy systems using bilevel programming," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    7. Zelaschi, Andrea & Pliotti, Lorenzo & Betti, Giulio & Tonno, Giovanni & Sgrò, Daniele & Martelli, Emanuele, 2025. "An effective MILP model for the optimal design of microgrids with high-reliability requirements," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 383(C).
    8. Hoffmann, Maximilian & Priesmann, Jan & Nolting, Lars & Praktiknjo, Aaron & Kotzur, Leander & Stolten, Detlef, 2021. "Typical periods or typical time steps? A multi-model analysis to determine the optimal temporal aggregation for energy system models," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    9. Maximilian Hoffmann & Leander Kotzur & Detlef Stolten & Martin Robinius, 2020. "A Review on Time Series Aggregation Methods for Energy System Models," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-61, February.
    10. Gabrielli, Paolo & Gazzani, Matteo & Martelli, Emanuele & Mazzotti, Marco, 2018. "Optimal design of multi-energy systems with seasonal storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 408-424.
    11. Pampado, Alessandro & Volpato, Gabriele & Fioriti, Davide & Lazzaretto, Andrea, 2025. "MESCO: a Clustering framework for the design Optimization of future Multi-Energy Systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    12. Manzolini, Giampaolo & Gentile, Giancarlo & Pilotti, Lorenzo & Martelli, Emanuele & Picotti, Giovanni & Binotti, Marco & Cholette, Michael E., 2025. "Limitations of using LCOE as economic indicator for solar power plants," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    13. Hoffmann, Maximilian & Kotzur, Leander & Stolten, Detlef, 2022. "The Pareto-optimal temporal aggregation of energy system models," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    14. Rigo-Mariani, Rémy, 2022. "Optimized time reduction models applied to power and energy systems planning – Comparison with existing methods," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    15. Marzi, Emanuela & Morini, Mirko & Saletti, Costanza & Vouros, Stavros & Zaccaria, Valentina & Kyprianidis, Konstantinos & Gambarotta, Agostino, 2023. "Power-to-Gas for energy system flexibility under uncertainty in demand, production and price," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    16. Alice Mugnini & Gianluca Coccia & Fabio Polonara & Alessia Arteconi, 2021. "Energy Flexibility as Additional Energy Source in Multi-Energy Systems with District Cooling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-30, January.
    17. Christina Papadimitriou & Marialaura Di Somma & Chrysanthos Charalambous & Martina Caliano & Valeria Palladino & Andrés Felipe Cortés Borray & Amaia González-Garrido & Nerea Ruiz & Giorgio Graditi, 2023. "A Comprehensive Review of the Design and Operation Optimization of Energy Hubs and Their Interaction with the Markets and External Networks," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-46, May.
    18. Osorio-Aravena, Juan Carlos & Aghahosseini, Arman & Bogdanov, Dmitrii & Caldera, Upeksha & Ghorbani, Narges & Mensah, Theophilus Nii Odai & Haas, Jannik & Muñoz-Cerón, Emilio & Breyer, Christian, 2023. "Synergies of electrical and sectoral integration: Analysing geographical multi-node scenarios with sector coupling variations for a transition towards a fully renewables-based energy system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    19. Ikäheimo, Jussi & Weiss, Robert & Kiviluoma, Juha & Pursiheimo, Esa & Lindroos, Tomi J., 2022. "Impact of power-to-gas on the cost and design of the future low-carbon urban energy system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    20. Petkov, Ivalin & Gabrielli, Paolo, 2020. "Power-to-hydrogen as seasonal energy storage: an uncertainty analysis for optimal design of low-carbon multi-energy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:241:y:2025:i:c:s0960148124022638. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.