Capacity configuration of rural electric-thermal multi-energy system considering hydrogen energy storage

Under "dual carbon" action plan, which aims to achieve the largest reduction in carbon emission intensity globally, rural energy, as an important component of China energy system, urgently requires the establishment of a diversified, green, and low-carbon energy structure. Given the inherent advantages of hydrogen energy storage, including its environmental sustainability, high energy density, and long-duration storage capabilities, it exhibits a natural synergy in addressing the issues of significant pollution in rural energy consumption, low overall efficiency, and inadequate supply reliability. A capacity configuration model for a combined electricity-thermal multi-energy system with hydrogen storage in rural household is proposed. Initially, an energy system architecture centered on photovoltaic and hydrogen storage is established, based on the rural solar resource endowment and the seasonal electricity and heating demand of households. Subsequently, a bi-level optimization model is developed with the objectives of minimizing the system investment payback period and maximizing annual operational profits. The capacity configuration is solved using a linearly decreasing inertia weight particle swarm optimization algorithm. Finally, simulation results demonstrate that the proposed electricity-thermal multi-energy system with hydrogen energy storage in rural contexts is expected to recover costs within six years, with the payback period reduced by approximately 11 a compared to conventional energy storage systems. Sensitivity analysis indicates that factors such as increases in hydrogen sale price and proportion, decrease in equipment costs, improvement in energy conversion efficiency, and economies of scale all contribute to enhancing system economics. The findings suggest that distributed rural household energy systems with hydrogen energy storage, when considering both combined heat and power generation and the benefits of energy sales, offer substantial economic feasibility and provide an effective solution for the green and low-carbon transition of rural energy structures.