A System Level Operational and Economic Analysis of Frequency Reserve Services By Pem Electrolyzers

Due to their considerable projected installed capacity and rapid deployment time, PEM electrolyzers hold significant potential for participation in the frequency reserve market. Although numerous studies have examined the economic benefits for electrolyzer owners in this market, a comprehensive evaluation of the economic and operational implications of utilizing these devices alongside other reserve providers from a system-wide perspective is a gap in the current literature. Such an analysis is key for guiding policymakers and must account for potential loss of power infeed and associated reserve, diverse hydrogen supply chains, reserve pricing mechanisms, and hydrogen price scenarios. Consequently, this work addresses these factors by using a Mixed Integer Second Order Cone (MISOC) multi-energy unit commitment model that incorporates frequency stability constraints. The results obtained on the GB power system demonstrate that low hydrogen prices and different reserve pricing mechanisms significantly impact system inertia, which does not pose an issue for grid stability if sufficient fast frequency reserve is available. These results further suggest that the proposed 140 GW·s inertia lower bound for the GB system may be an overestimation if the planned electrolyzer projects are realized within the next five years.