Revolutionising Energy: The Role of Flexible Hydrogen Production in New

Abstract

New Zealand’s commitment to operate a 100% renewable electricity network against a backdrop of rapidly growing demand will require the extensive uptake of additional renewable generation. The intermittent nature of these sources introduces significant security of supply risk to the electricity network, particularly in dry years when lake inflows are lower than normal. A balancing mechanism is needed to ensure that the country’s electricity system remains secure and reliable as it undergoes this decarbonisation transition.A proposed solution to this dry year and intermittency risk is to use a green hydrogen plant as a large-scale demand response option.Green hydrogen production can ramp up and down extremely fast in response to intermittent renewable energy generation and is technically feasible at large scales.This research takes twenty-one years of historical meteorological, generation, and demand data and uses it to model a 100% renewable 2050 electricity system. The findings reveal that there are a variety of least-cost configurations that, when utilised with small-scale storage (less than 0.1TWh), can be used to address New Zealand’s network challenges and meet all expected electricity demand in 2050.

Keywords: Green hydrogen, Renewable energy, demand response, system integration, electricity system, energy transition Acknowledgements: