Modelling hydrogen integration in energy system models: Best practices for policy insights

TL;DR

This paper reviews how hydrogen is modeled in national energy system models, highlighting best practices and suggesting ways to improve accuracy while maintaining computational efficiency for policy analysis.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive review of hydrogen modeling approaches in energy system models and provides practical recommendations for enhancing model representation.

Findings

Models often use simplified hydrogen supply chain representations

Balance achieved between model accuracy and computational efficiency

Guidelines proposed for better hydrogen modeling in policy-oriented models

Abstract

The rapid emergence of hydrogen in long-term energy strategies requires a broad understanding on how hydrogen is currently modelled in national energy system models. This study provides a review on hydrogen representation within selected energy system models that are tailored towards providing policy insights. The paper adopts a multi-layered review approach and selects eleven notable models for the review. The review covers hydrogen production, storage, transportation, trade, demand, modeling strategies, and hydrogen policies. The review suggests existing models would often opt for a simplified representation that can capture each stage of the hydrogen supply chain. This approach allows models to strike a balance between accuracy and preserving computational resources. The paper provides several suggestions for modeling hydrogen in national energy system models.