AI-Enabled Integration of Smart Grids and Green Hydrogen: A System-Level Review of Flexibility, Control, and Cyber-Physical Energy Systems

The rapid digitalization of power systems and the growing penetration of variable renewable energy sources have intensified the need for flexible and resilient smart-grid architectures capable of coordinating cross-sector energy flows. This review aims to provide a system-level synthesis of the artificial-intelligence-enabled integration of smart grids and green hydrogen, explicitly addressing coordination across physical infrastructure, digital control layers, market mechanisms, and environmental constraints. Following the PRISMA 2020 framework, 142 high-relevance studies published between 2010 and 2025 were systematically screened and classified into five interdependent thematic pillars: demand-side flexibility, ICT and IoT infrastructures, cybersecurity and resilience, communication and control performance, and AI-based optimization and decision-making. The synthesis reveals three principal findings. First, while core technologies such as photovoltaics, battery storage, and proton exchange membrane electrolyzers exhibit high component-level maturity, system-integration readiness remains limited by interoperability, communication latency, cybersecurity compliance, and market eligibility constraints. Second, electrolyzers can technically provide fast-response and multi-timescale flexibility services, yet their economic viability depends strongly on market product granularity, settlement intervals, and regulatory frameworks. Third, environmental and resource constraints, including water availability and material criticality, are emerging as binding factors that must be embedded directly into planning and optimization models. Overall, the review positions artificial intelligence as a cross-layer coordination mechanism that links operational control, digital observability, market participation, and sustainability boundaries, providing an integrated architecture to guide scalable and resilient smart grid–hydrogen deployment.