Comparative study of optimization algorithms for sizing of Wind Turbine/ Fuel Cell/ Electrolyzer/ Hydrogen Tank in the hybrid stand-alone power system

Abstract

In this paper, a comparative study of optimization algorithms for determining the optimal size of hybrid stand-alone power systems at the lowest total cost is proposed. In this regard, the performance of the components of hybrid power system including wind turbine, fuel cell, anaerobic reactor, reformer, electrolyzer and hydrogen tank has been studied and several different optimization algorithms are taken into account. The proposed method can meet the load demand using wind energy and biomass as an available energy resource. In the stand-alone power system, power produced by the wind turbine and fuel cell (fed by the reformer) are applied to the demand. When these generations are more than the demand, additional power is delivered to the electrolyzer. Otherwise, the hybrid system is fed by the hydrogen tanks. The proposed method has been tested in Kahnooj region located in the southeastern of Iran and the results of various optimization methods have been presented in order to determine the optimal size of the hybrid power system.