This project aims to fill a research gap in the production of hydrogen from renewable energy (RE) sources, by focusing on the transition from AC to fully DC microgrids for green hydrogen production.
The existing limitations with the current RE AC microgrids such as low efficiency, high cost and size as well as the current changes toward DC systems and the lack of industry experience with dedicated DC microgrids for green hydrogen have been the main motivations for developing and demonstrating the first DC microgrid for green hydrogen production.
This project will propose an efficient, first-of-a-kind fully DC microgrid for green hydrogen production, using electrolysers, solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage systems. In this microgrid, the unnecessary AC power conversions will be eliminated via dedicated DC-DC power converters for electrolyser, PV and battery storage system. This will provide the key experiences for the industry in design, operation, and control of DC microgrids for hydrogen production, enabling a faster uptake and upscaling of green hydrogen. This project is the first step towards the fully DC “power to gas – gas to power” systems with high efficiency.
Partners: Horizon Power, Origin Energy Limited, QLD Government Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning
Project Researchers: Dr Saman Asghari Gorji, Dr Dezso Sera
Duration: 2 years