Assessing the flexibility and cost dynamics of hydrogen systems in integrated energy models for DSO grid planning

Energy system integration (ESI) can be used to mitigate or prevent bottlenecks in power transport and distribution, potentially saving up to 70% annualized costs. To materialize these savings, owners and operators of ESI assets need to have hydrogen pricing and dispatch (flexibility) forecasting capabilities. In this paper, prospects, impact, volatilities and costs of expected commonly used hydrogen producing and storage technologies are analysed. We quantitatively analysed integrated system dynamics, including conversion of (mainly) electricity into hydrogen and heat (and vice versa). Decision rules (e.g. sizing and merit order) are implemented to determine the dispatch of sources, consumer s and storage technologies. This is done both on an hourly and annual scale, while simultaneously considering the hourly and annual balance of all relevant carriers. These decision rules are based on levelized costs, as these are the best indication of the market value of hydrogen. The developed methodology is implemented in an existing open source model, and therefore allows exploration of the potential role in ESI for a range of hydrogen technologies. Specifically, the model can provide insights into how the flexible operation of both P2G and G2P in the electricity system impacts the flexibility requirements and costs of the hydrogen system.