MODULAR SIMULATION APPROACH FOR GREEN HYDROGEN PRODUCTION: A CASE STUDY IN FORTALEZA, CEARÁ

Resumo

his article presents a modular simulation tool, developed using object-oriented programming, to support the technical and economic assessment of renewable hydrogen production plants. In general, the user defines the characteristics of the main components in the plant, from renewable energy production to the different hydrogen consumption points. With these inputs, the tool simulates the interactions between the indicated components on an hourly basis for their entire lifetime – 20 years. In this way, by modelling the existing energy flows, whether in the production of electricity, renewable hydrogen, the operation of storage and possible exchanges with the electricity grid, the capacities of the various components are optimised through an iterative process. The tool's operation focuses on the promoters' needs, based on optimising the levelised cost of hydrogen production and maximising compliance with demand. A case study in Fortaleza, Brazil, demonstrates its application, revealingthat pre-optimized configurations can reduce the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) by up to 20% - 6.08 €/kg - and increase demand fulfillment from 50% to over 92%. These results highlight the tool’s potential to assist project developers in exploring trade-offs between cost and reliability during early-stage planning. As a work in progress, the tool will continue to be developed and extended to incorporate additional functionalities and more detailed analyses in future iterations.