Wind hydrogen based distributed energy system for rural India

There are large populations in developing and under-developed countries which do not have an access to the electrical grid. Reasons for this non-accessibility include remote locations of such communities with reference to the penetration of the grid as well as inadequate availability of sufficient electrical connections due to supply side power shortages. It is expensive to provide grid connectivity to populations located in isolated, geographically difficult areas. However, in absence of electrical power, living needs cannot be met and grid isolated populations are forced to exploit fast depleting natural sources of energy such as wood for survival. Such communities primarily have two types of energy requirements, first as electrical energy for lighting and for operating electrical appliances such as fans, TV, Radio, etc and secondly for meeting their energy needs of cooking. To meet such types of energy demand through renewable (e.g. solar and wind etc.) alone becomes expensive, particularly for cooking or other small thermal applications. In this study, a general model is suggested which meet both types of energy need for remote populations along with its techno-economic feasibility.

Among known renewable sources, wind energy is cost effective but inconsistent. Therefore, a suitable ESS (Energy Storage System) is essential for off-grid, stand alone, wind turbine to ensure consistent energy availability. Oversized wind turbine with battery can not only meet the peak electricity demands but can provide spare capacity for running processes that can store energy, which can be later pumped into the network, when real time wind generation stops due to absence or reduction in wind velocity. If, one now couples a water based electrolyser to generate Hydrogen with this system, the excess generation from the over-designed wind turbine can be diverted to the water electrolyser to generate Hydrogen. The generated Hydrogen can be stored to meet all thermal energy needs of the isolated communities, particularly for cooking. Thus in such an envisaged system, electrical energy is used only for lighting and running electrical appliances and thermal needs -such as that for cooking - are met by burning clean - green - Hydrogen fuel. Objective of the study is to explore use of Hydrogen directly for cooking through catalytic combustion. This study reveals that direct use of Hydrogen for thermal application is more efficient and economically viable than converting generated Hydrogen back to electrical energy through fuel cell or internal combustion engine forthermal application.