Renewable Energy Communities as Green Hydrogen Hubs—A Techno-Economic Optimization Framework for Green Hydrogen Infrastructure in Interconnected Renewable Energy Community Networks

With the rapid global expansion of renewable energy installations, green hydrogen has gained growing interest as a flexible energy carrier capable of supporting sector coupling, seasonal storage, and industrial decarbonization. Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) represent a promising organizational structure for decentralized green hydrogen production; however, the integration of multiple interconnected RECs through local hydrogen transport networks remains insufficiently characterized. This study presents a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) framework for the techno-economic optimization of interconnected REC-based hydrogen networks. The framework combines renewable electricity generation with battery storage, local hydrogen production and storage, pipeline and truck transport, and a conceptual central hydrogen hub for exports. Representative-day clustering is used to reduce computational complexity while preserving annual operational characteristics. The model determines optimal hydrogen flows, pipeline investments, truck dispatch when pipelines are not economically viable, and hub exports under predefined economic and environmental constraints. A case study comprising four interconnected RECs representative of Central European conditions is investigated. The optimization relocates the central hub to the largest exporter. Three of the five identified pipeline corridors are economically justified under the baseline assumptions, with the built pipelines transporting 99.3% of the total hydrogen moved within the network, while truck transport accounts for 0.7%. The central hub exports aggregated surplus hydrogen, generating annual revenues above EUR 460,000. No unmet hydrogen demand remains after optimization. The results show that interconnected green-hydrogen REC networks can improve renewable-energy utilization, reduce curtailment, enhance regional energy resilience, and create hydrogen business opportunities, while also indicating that the economic conclusions are sensitive to infrastructure cost, utilization, and price assumptions.