Coordinated Scheduling of Hydrogen Production and Flexible Loads in Offshore Wind-Powered Underwater Data Centers

Offshore wind-powered hydrogen production is increasingly recognized as an effective pathway for improving renewable energy utilization and facilitating the decarbonization of energy systems. However, the lack of flexible, high-demand local consumption scenarios limits the effective integration of offshore wind energy. In this context, underwater data centers (UDCs), characterized by high energy demand and operational flexibility, constitute a promising solution as controllable loads to support hydrogen-based energy systems. This study proposes an integrated offshore wind-powered hydrogen production system coupled with underwater data centers, directed at enhancing both economic performance and renewable energy utilization. A comprehensive system modeling framework is developed, in which hydrogen production, storage operations, and heterogeneous UDC loads are jointly considered. The UDC loads are classified into four categories to capture their distinct operational characteristics. A coordinated optimization model is formulated to minimize the net system cost, and three operational scenarios are designed to investigate different coordination strategies. The results demonstrate that coordinated optimization of hydrogen production–storage processes and flexible UDC load scheduling significantly improves overall system performance. The optimal scenario achieves a minimum net system cost of CNY 311,911.50 and a maximum wind power utilization rate of 91.59%, corresponding to cost reductions of 31.32% and 54.00% compared with benchmark scenarios. These findings highlight that integrating hydrogen production systems with flexible data center loads can effectively mitigate renewable energy curtailment and improve system-level efficiency. This work provides a new perspective for the design and operation of offshore hydrogen-based integrated energy systems by introducing flexible digital infrastructure as a key coupling component.