Compensating energy demand of public transport and yielding green hydrogen with floating photovoltaic power plant

Abstract

The last three decades have seen a dramatic increase in the renewable energy sector as a result of increased human energy consumption and environmental concerns about fossil fuels. Offshore renewable energy sources are the most alluring and promising technologies because of more energy potential, less space, and visual restrictions than onshore ones. Among those, floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) has a remarkable reputation. The present study focuses on a viable way to replace energy resources derived from fossil fuels with renewable solar energy. In this regard, electrical energy demand is investigated where a floating photovoltaic system and integrated hydrogen production unit are employed on water surface of Yamula Dam. Energy demand of public trams would be compensated with electricity generated by FPV and rest of energy would be utilized for hydrogen production. Key results illustrated that in various scenarios, the energy generation amounts were around 31×106 kW, 32×106 kW, and 39×106 kW, while the energy consumption amounts were approximately 24×106 kW. It was evident that the energy created more than offset the amount consumed. It was also note that the total costs of entire system were $94.1 M, $78.5 M and $71.2 M according to the different cases. It was also observed that in October and November, the remaining energy from the Bozankaya tram produced the most hydrogen with 125 kg, whereas in September and October, the remaining energy from the Sirio tram produced approximately 70 kg.