The concept of a future hydrogen city

To create a quantitative model of the energy supply of a «hydrogen city», the city of Innopolis, located in the Republic of Tatarstan, was chosen as the base. This young settlement can rightfully be considered a unique experimental platform for testing low-carbon solutions due to a combination of three factors. Factor one: the construction was carried out on an undeveloped territory, so there is no old, physically worn-out infrastructure. Factor two: the city is home to a data center of a major state-owned corporation, which consumes 20 MW of electricity on a 24/7 basis (this includes the energy consumption of cooling systems and uninterruptible power supplies). The third factor is that the climate is continental, which makes Innopolis a representative model for most regions of Russia, as well as for Eastern European countries and the North American continent.

The developed hybrid scheme is intended to replace the current power supply system. Its structure includes the following elements: photovoltaic installations with a total capacity of 36,6 MW (they are supposed to be installed on roofs and facades of buildings, on carports, as well as on land plots free of development); a 12 MW wind power plant; a 10 MW PEM type electrolysis system; a hydrogen storage tank; a 10 MW fuel cell battery A 25 MW combined-cycle power plant, which includes a 15 MW gas turbine with a combustion chamber adapted for operation on fuel mixtures with a hydrogen content in the range from 0 to 100 %. The electrical efficiency of this combined cycle plant is 56 % when powered by methane, and 52 % when powered by pure hydrogen. In the mode of combined electricity and heat generation, the corresponding figures are 86 % and 83 %.

The mathematical support of the work is a set of differential equations describing the energy balance. This model takes into account the stochastic nature of renewable energy generation, the kinetics of electrochemical reactions within the electrolyzer, and the thermodynamic principles of the steam-gas cycle. The accuracy of the model calculations has been verified using real-world data on solar radiation, wind conditions, and hourly electricity load profiles. During the experimental measurements, it was found that the actual values of the specific loads are 2,1-2,7 times lower than the regulatory values specified in SP 256.1325800.2016. This currently unused reserve of network infrastructure capacity can be utilized to connect the electrolyzer and charging stations without the need for reconstruction.

The results of numerical modeling have revealed a pronounced seasonal asymmetry. During the summer months, the excess production of renewable energy reaches 26 MWh per day, allowing for the production of up to 416 kilograms of hydrogen per hour. This hydrogen is stored for use during the winter. When winter sets in and renewable energy production becomes insufficient, the combined cycle plant provides up to 65 % of the daily consumption. It uses a mixture of natural gas with a 30 % hydrogen additive, which significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions.

The proposed architectural scheme serves as a prototype for a carbon-neutral city of the future. It is suitable  for scaling to any settlements located in a continental climate zone and having critical IT infrastructure. In this context, Innopolis acts as a «living laboratory» – a prototype city where all the components of the hydrogen economy, including electricity generation, heat supply, transportation, data center, and housing and utilities, are integrated into a single ecosystem. It is important that this ecosystem is being created from scratch, without any costs for re-equipping existing communications.

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