Impact of dynamic aspects on economics of fuel cell based micro co-generation in low carbon futures

Highlights: • A power dispatch model is combined with an individual heating system model. • Economics of fuel cell based micro cogeneration is studied in a low carbon future. • Dynamics of fuel cells are modelled through inclusion of mixed integer constraints. • Optimized operation and hot start-up approaches offer greater economic potential. • Limited ramping and turn down constraints seriously hinder economic performance. This article evaluates the impact of a range of dynamic performance parameters on the techno-economics of fuel cell based micro co-generation. The main novelties in methodology are: (1) Analysis in the context of future power system decarbonisation, (2) Use of the Long Run Marginal Cost of electricity, (3) Combination of the above with dynamic aspects such as start-up cost, ramping limit, turn down ratio, minimum up time and minimum down time and (4) Identification of sensitive parameters for future research. To this end it combines a national level energy systems model with an individual heating system model. A case study of the United Kingdom is considered for the year 2035. Economic viability of fuel cell based micro co-generation hinges upon the use of an optimized control strategy. With such a control strategy, a hot start-up approach offers much greater economic potential than a cold start-up approach. The best case ratio of maximum allowable hot standby power to the nominal value is 4.2 while the ratio for cold start is only 1.1. Combinations involving low ramping limits less than 70 W/min and limited turn down ratios above 35% need to be avoided as they seriously hinder economic performance.