Assessing the Utilization of Fuels Cells for the Valorization of Produced Excess Energy in Isolated Grids – The Green Transition of Agios Efstratios

The island of Agios Efstratios is a unique case, since a pilot green energy transition program is taking place. Wind and solar photovoltaic technologies have seen tremendous growth during the past decade and various policy measures have been introduced in support of their growth. For the cases of islands that are not connected with the mainland grid the integration of renewable energy systems (RES) is a challenge, due to the variable performance for wind and solar. This study investigates the integration of electrolysis and fuel cells as a method to increase the penetration of RES in the isolated system of the island and to store hydrogen for other uses like green transportation. The software RETSCREEN was used for the analysis and the available excess energy from the renewables showed that it can support the operation of a 200 KW fuel cell system and the replacement of two small 90 KW diesel engines and would increase the overall RES penetration. At the same time, more than 20 tons of hydrogen could be stored annually for other uses.