Green hydrogen integration in the built environment: Cost-risk analysis via stochastic optimisation

Green hydrogen offers a long-term energy storage solution for excess renewable electricity, which can enhance building self-sufficiency and energy resilience. However, electrolysers and fuel cells involve high investment costs. In this work, a stochastic optimisation framework is developed which incorporates uncertainty into an energy planning tool performing technology design and operation optimisation. The potential of green hydrogen when coupled to electricity, heating and cooling systems is investigated for a hypothetical household community in the Mediterranean region, addressing the fundamental question: How does accounting for the impact of uncertainties associated with future electricity prices affect the economic viability of green hydrogen in residential communities? The results show that a risk-prone strategy lowers expected costs by 8%, but a risk-averse approach reduces risk by 5%. Overall, considering uncertainty in the optimisation problem strengthens the role of green hydrogen in risk-averse strategies, requiring higher investments but reducing dependence on future resource price fluctuations.