Hydrogen Production Through Electrolyzers as a Key Player in Multi-Energy Systems

This chapter is focused on hydrogen, its production methods, and how this energy vector fits into multi-energy systems (MES) when integrated with other renewable energy sources. Hydrogen will play a fundamental role in the integration of renewable energy. It will become the second energy vector that, together with electricity, will allow the integration of sustainable energy systems. Today, water electrolysis is the main method used to produce hydrogen; the widespread adoption of water electrolysis is due to the need to reduce energy consumption, cost, and maintenance and improve reliability, durability, and safety. In addition, the creation of a hydrogen energy storage system is an important milestone in the achievement of completely renewable energy systems, while guaranteeing the dependability and stability of power systems. Automatic control applied to alkaline electrolyzers is fundamental for hydrogen production, as strategies to handle internal processes of complex electrolysis-based devices are strongly needed to guarantee proper hydrogen production with specific degrees of purity.