Mitigation of Reverse Power Flows in a Distribution Network by Power-to-Hydrogen Plant

Fabio Massaro, John Licari, Alexander Micallef, Salvatore Ruffino () and Cyril Spiteri Staines
Additional contact information
Fabio Massaro: Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
John Licari: Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malta, 2080 Msida, Malta
Alexander Micallef: Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malta, 2080 Msida, Malta
Salvatore Ruffino: Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Cyril Spiteri Staines: Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malta, 2080 Msida, Malta

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 15, 1-20

Abstract: The increase in power generation facilities from nonprogrammable renewable sources is posing several challenges for the management of electrical systems, due to phenomena such as congestion and reverse power flows. In mitigating these phenomena, Power-to-Gas plants can make an important contribution. In this paper, a linear optimisation study is presented for the sizing of a Power-to-Hydrogen plant consisting of a PEM electrolyser, a hydrogen storage system composed of multiple compressed hydrogen tanks, and a fuel cell for the eventual reconversion of hydrogen to electricity. The plant was sized with the objective of minimising reverse power flows in a medium-voltage distribution network characterised by a high presence of photovoltaic systems, considering economic aspects such as investment costs and the revenue obtainable from the sale of hydrogen and excess energy generated by the photovoltaic systems. The study also assessed the impact that the electrolysis plant has on the power grid in terms of power losses. The results obtained showed that by installing a 737 kW electrolyser, the annual reverse power flows are reduced by 81.61%, while also reducing losses in the transformer and feeders supplying the ring network in question by 17.32% and 29.25%, respectively, on the day with the highest reverse power flows.

Keywords: power systems; energy transition; hydrogen; reverse power flows; energy storage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/15/3931/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/15/3931/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:15:p:3931-:d:1708222

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().