Technical feasibility and financial analysis of hybrid wind–photovoltaic system with hydrogen storage for Cooma

The feasibility of a stand-alone hybrid wind–photovoltaic (PV) system incorporating compressed hydrogen gas storage was studied for Cooma (Australia). Cooma has an average annual solar and wind energy availability of 1784 and 932 kWh/m2, respectively. A system with 69 kWhe/day (load) and 483 kWhe(storage) was studied. Hydrogen is generated in electrolysers using excess electricity from the system. The system components were selected according to their availability and cost. The “discounted cash flow” method, with the “levelized energy cost” (LEC) as a financial indicator was used for analysis. Configurations with PV% of 100, 60, 12 and zero were analysed. The lowest LEC of AU $2.52/kWhe was found for 100% PV. The cost of hydrogen generation from 100% PV was AU $692/GJ of hydrogen. Fifty-two percent of the total project costs were due to the electrolyser. Hence, a reduction in the electrolyser cost would reduce the cost of the overall system.