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Green hydrogen production systems will play an important role in the energy transition from fossil-based fuels to zero-carbon technologies. This paper investigates a concept of an off-grid alkaline water electrolyzer plant integrated with solar photovoltaic (PV), wind power, and a battery energy storage system (BESS). The operation of the plant is simulated over 30 years with 5 min time resolution based on measured power generation data collected from a solar photovoltaic installation and a wind farm located in southeastern Finland. Levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) is calculated based on the capital expenditures (CAPEX), the operating expenses (OPEX), and the respective learning curves for each of the components. Component degradation and replacements during the operational lifetime are included in the model, and the capacity of the components and the system control are simultaneously optimized to obtain the minimum LCOH. A sensitivity analysis performed over different installation years and discount rates reveals that for the off-grid alkaline system, the implementation of a wind farm as the sole power supply is the most economical solution until the installation years 2035–2040. Solar PV and a BESS are found to increase the full-load hours of the electrolyzer and reduce the electricity curtailed in the off-grid plant to less than 8%. However, with the current component prices and the climate in the studied region, they are not economically beneficial. It is found that the cost of hydrogen can be reduced to 2 €/kg by the year 2030. • Optimal control and component capacities for a green hydrogen production plant. • Simulations use measured power from a solar PV installation and a wind farm. • Levelized cost of hydrogen is less than 2 €/kg by the year 2030. • Purely wind based system is the most cost-effective solution until the years 2035–2040. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capacity of each component in an off-grid water electrolyzer hydrogen production plant integrated with solar photovoltaics and a battery energy storage system represents a significant factor affecting the viability and reliability of the system. This paper describes a novel method that optimizes simultaneously the component capacities and finite-state machine based control of the system to minimize the cost of green hydrogen production. The components and control in the system are referenced to a proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer stack with a fixed nominal power of 4.5 kW. The end results are thus scalable by changing the nominal power of the electrolyzer. Simulations are carried out based on data collected from a residential solar photovoltaic installation with 300 s time resolution. Optimization of the system is performed with particle swarm optimization algorithm. A sensitivity analysis performed over the prices of the different components reveals that the price of the water electrolyzer has the greatest impact on the green hydrogen production cost. It is found that the price of the battery has to be below 0.3 €/Wh to become a feasible solution as overnight energy storage. • System components and control are optimized simultaneously using PSO algorithm. • Simulations are based on data collected from an existing solar PV installation. • Electrolyzer price has the strongest effect on off-grid hydrogen production cost. • Overnight hydrogen production becomes economic below 0.3 €/Wh battery system price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]