An approach to the dynamic modelling of fuel cell characteristics for distributed generation operation

Abstract

Fuel cells are a promising technology in distributed generation (DG). Some analysts even suggest that if aspects like cell durability and manufacturing costs are improved, fuel cells can displace some of the traditional generation sources. In the context of the production of a fuel cell plant model for a power systems simulator (PSS), this paper suggests that fuel cell plants be designed to be capable of delivering ancillary services as well as power in order to facilitate their market entry with added value features. However, a fuel cell plant with all these capabilities does not exist yet, and this adds a number of difficulties associated with the creation of a plant dynamic model. This paper also reports on the modelling of the different plant subsystems in order to understand how such a plant will operate in the future.