Hydrogen refueling station siting of expressway based on the optimization of hydrogen life cycle cost

Hydrogen-energy expressway system planning involves load prediction, hydrogen source planning and hydrogen station planning. Exemplary construction of a run-for-profit hydrogen-energy expressway must attach importance to comprehensive evaluation of the effect of investment. The paper analyzes current situation of hydrogen-energy expressway construction, points out that adequate consideration should be given in all aspects of hydrogen energy's life cycle cost, such as hydrogen production, transport, storage, usage, CO2 disposal, carbon tax, hydrogen station's annual construction investment and annual operating expenses. The paper suggests that hydrogen made from discarded electricity of clean energies and hydrogen produced as byproduct during chemical plant production should be utilized to reduce production cost. On the basis of hydrogen energy's life cycle cost analysis, the paper creates a hydrogen station siting optimization model, with the constraints of hydrogen station's supply radius, hydrogen source's productivity and geographic information factor, so as to increase the applicability and level of hydrogen-energy expressway planning effectively. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.