Sensitivity-Aware Techno-Economic Assessment of Green Hydrogen Energy Hubs for Smart Grids in Saudi Arabia

This paper presents a comprehensive techno-economic assessment of Green Hydrogen Energy Hubs (GHEHs) across five strategic locations in Saudi Arabia. The study explores the integration of renewables, including wind turbines (WTs), photovoltaic (PV), and electrolyzers (EZ), in the production and storage of green hydrogen (GH). The GHEH system is designed for decentralized, off-grid operation, providing a stable, ecofriendly energy supply while supporting Saudi Arabia's energy transition goals. A techno-economic optimization model is employed to minimize system costs and maximize its energy efficiency and resilience. The optimization results, which included key economic indicators: net present cost (NPC) and cost of hydrogen (COH), are evaluated to determine the most viable GHEH for each location. The economic outcomes tinted Riyadh with the least NPC ($9.7M) and a promising COH of 3.07 $/kg. Besides, the system has the shortest 8-year payback period, highlighting its strong long-term profitability. Also, energy scheduling validates a well-balanced and resilient behavior with negligible unmet electrical and hydrogen loads. Finally, sensitivity analysis reveals that the NPC drops to $7.93M with WT cost reduction, and COH reaches $2.34/kg when the inflation rate rises to 5%.