Control of a Tidal Lagoon Power Generation Hydrogen Storage System

Abstract

This paper outlines control of a hydrogen storage system attached to a tidal lagoon power generation system which meets a specific power demand pattern from the combined system to enable variable tidal power generation to be part of the renewable energy mix.The hydrogen storage system consists of an electrolyser subsystem, fuel cell subsystem and a hydrogen storage. The hydrogen storage system is controlled by a supervisory Hybrid Controller based on Mixed Logical Dynamical Model Predictive Control (MLD MPC). The optimisation sets start-stop instructions to the equipment and provides continuous references once the equipment is running to meet the control requirements. The control is based on a hydrogen balance for the system which embeds the key requirement that the overall system including equipment auxiliaries meets all its own power requirements from either the tidal lagoon or the hydrogen storage system.The simulation shows that optimisation functions meet the demand at all times, while maintaining the hydrogen storage level to allow the fuel cell to run when required to cover the demand.