Optimal Planning of a Hybrid Fuel-Cell–Battery System for Microgrid Applications

The variable nature of sustainable energy sources, coupled with unpredictable fluctuations in load, significantly impacts microgrid planning and operation. This creates an urgent need for storage systems that possess both high energy and power handling capacities to enhance the reliability and efficiency of microgrids. Hybridizing fuel cells (FCs) and battery storage system offers a promising solution by combining the advantages of both technologies. To this end, this article introduces an innovative model designed to determine the optimal sizing and management of a hybrid system comprising FCs and lithium batteries for islanded microgrid applications. The model considers the critical tradeoffs between the high-power density and efficiency of lithium batteries and the extended lifespan and energy density of FCs. Furthermore, it incorporates factors such as investment and operational expenses, the state-of-health of the FC, battery degradation costs, and the dynamic efficiency of the FC. To reduce computational burden, all constraints are modeled as linear, and mixed integer linear programming, suitable for linear models, is employed for the problem formulation. Simulation results and comparative analyses confirm the model’s effectiveness, demonstrating a reduction in annual microgrid cost by up to 24.45% while exhibiting a notable 8% reduction in required storage compared to using only individual lithium battery storage.