Transient simulation of an integrated solar gas turbine equipped with hydrogen energy storage and hydrogen-fueled combustion chamber for continuous power supply

Solar energy, as a renewable power source, offers a viable solution for reducing carbon footprints and achieving zero-emission electricity generation. However, like other renewable energy sources, its output varies throughout the day and across seasons, making energy storage essential for reliability. This paper introduces a green solar electricity generation system designed to provide continuous power by implementing a micro gas turbine powered by hydrogen fuel. The system integrates an air Brayton cycle with a central solar tower and a proton exchange membrane (PEM) unit, which converts and stores surplus solar energy as hydrogen fuel. A micro gas turbine burns the produced and stored hydrogen as a clean fuel during periods of low or no sunlight to meet energy demand. The energy and heat transfer model of the heliostat field and cavity receiver was validated, and a transient simulation of the system was conducted in Seville, Spain, as a case study. The results indicated that the efficiency of converting solar energy into electricity was highest at 47.49% during the early morning of the summer solstice but dropped to 0.23% at noon. As the system produces and consumes hydrogen throughout the year, the Annual Net Hydrogen (ANH) metric was calculated to balance the system. The findings demonstrated that the system can produce 22.5 kW of stable, continuous electrical power throughout the year, with an annual energy efficiency of 1.25% and 47.78 kg of ANH.