Hydrogen Technologies Integrated into Smart Grids

The implementation of smart grids can help to tackle some of the following; aging assets and lack of circuit capacity; thermal constraints that affect power transfer ability; operational constraints to help maintain network stability; security of supply for more reliability; and national initiatives, in a cost-effective way to help modernize power grids and reduce carbon pollution. Recently, de-carbonization has become a global imperative and a priority for governments, companies and society at large, because it plays a very important role in limiting global warming. There is great emphasis to become carbon neutral by 2050 by many governments, and organizations across the globe. This will require using different energy systems fundamentally, and considering alternative energy sources based on green electricity and green molecules (biofuels and hydrogen). Implementing hydrogen gas production in a smart grid, will help to obtain the best solution and reduce the carbon footprint.

Since climate change is linked directly to carbon footprint, it is important to reflect on the total greenhouse gases (GHGs) that are produced from a specific process of hydrogen production. In the traditional process of hydrogen production, the total emissions are quite high.
This Research Topic would address the role of smart grids in achieving de-carbonization, production technologies and transportation of green hydrogen from the green sources of energy in the smart grid system in a cost-effective, sustainable and advanced way, instead of using the traditional energy sources for hydrogen production.
The stored green hydrogen can be converted back to power the smart grid using fuel cell dc generator technology, in periods of no renewable energy sources in the smart grid.

This Research Topic would focus on the production and storage of green hydrogen in smart grids. It would also address the potential paths forward for advanced options, and the factors that could help accelerate the development and deployment of green hydrogen production and storage technologies. In this Research Topic, the factors to accelerate green hydrogen production and storage in future modern smart power grids, examining policies that can best support the objective, and financing mechanisms to expedite the commercialization of new green hydrogen production and storage technologies, to address the challenges of intermittency in smart grids, would be explored. The Research Topic would also address the following, but not limited to:
• Conventional hydrogen production processes
• Smart grids and hydrogen new technologies
• Green hydrogen production
• Green hydrogen storage
• Green hydrogen transportation
• Smart grid new technologies
• Advanced financing mechanisms of green hydrogen production.
• Commercialization and policies of green hydrogen production.

Keywords: De-carbonization, renewable energy, green hydrogen, smart grids, solar PVs, wind turbines, fuel cells.

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.