Executive Summary : | The utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) has a high capital and operational expenditure, self-discharge properties, and low energy density, prompting stakeholders to consider a suitable alternative. Hydrogen energy storage systems (HESS) have energy storage capacity ranging from 1 GWh to 1 TWh, offering long-term energy supply, demand balance, reduced renewable curtailment, short-term frequency, and voltage regulation. When integrated with the power grid, a green hydrogen infrastructure can offer benefits such as increased stability, reduced renewable curtailments, fast ramp-up/down, and coordinated operation with other resources and loads. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has demonstrated the potential applications of electrolyzers in the power grid to maintain frequency and voltage stability. However, recent researchers have not focused on the coordinated operation of multiple electrolyzers using state-of-the-art digital twin technology. This project proposes a set of work packages and tasks to establish, validate, and demonstrate the applications of hydrogen electrolyzers using digital twin technology in the power sector. The main focus areas include developing a detailed physics-based and digital twin model for a module-level grid-integrated electrolyzer plant, investigating dynamic frequency and voltage regulation from multiple grid-scale electrolyzers, realizing and assessing a cloud-hosted digital twin model for multiple grid-scale electrolyzers on a benchmark power system network, and demonstrating the project findings to encourage research on the digital twin concept in India. |