Energy Management System for microgrid operation with green hydrogen storage in the Colombian electricity sector

Microgrids have been widely deployed in recent years, largely due to their benefits in integrating renewables and supporting the main power grid. While they commonly include energy storage systems, most current solutions rely on batteries, which often have a limited capacity. Conversely, green hydrogen is increasingly recognized as a critical element in the energy transition, primarily due to its unique ability to generate energy without producing polluting gases. Among its numerous applications, hydrogen's integration into electrification systems is particularly promising. This study explores the benefits of incorporating green hydrogen into a microgrid comprising solar and wind generation systems, complemented by battery storage. A novel Energy Management System (EMS) is proposed which, in addition to a cost function, incorporates detailed hydrogen models alongside dynamic models of the other microgrid elements. The proposed EMS is validated in a microgrid implemented in MATLAB/Simulink, considering multiple demand profiles (residential, industrial, and commercial) and evaluating system performance under both favorable and unfavorable climatic conditions. A battery-sizing sensitivity analysis demonstrated that, although the initial cost of hydrogen-related equipment is relatively high, the long-term savings from reduced battery replacements fully offset this investment. The integration of hydrogen also significantly improves the microgrid's key performance metrics. Renewable energy penetration remains above 97% under favorable conditions and increases resilience from 31% to 33% under unfavorable ones. The probability of power shortage is reduced from 90%–95% with batteries alone to as low as 1%–5% with hydrogen. Additionally, energy not absorbed is minimized to less than 3%. Technical indicators, such as equivalent battery full cycles show reduced stress on batteries, extending their lifetime, while socio-economic indicators reflect additional revenues from hydrogen sales (up to $11,000 COP in the commercial profile).