Optimal Coupling of Energy Infrastructures

This paper presents a framework for integrated modeling and optimization of energy systems with multiple energy carriers. Based on the concept of energy hubs, a generic steady- state model for describing conversion and storage of multiple energy carriers, such as electricity, natural gas, hydrogen, or district heating, is developed and used for system optimization. Besides operational optimization of energy flows, the optimal structure of the system is investigated. Mathematically, the problems are stated as (mixed-integer) nonlinear programming problems. An example demonstrates the use and potential applications of the proposed method and highlights its features.