ESTONIAN ACADEMY
PUBLISHERS
eesti teaduste
akadeemia kirjastus
PUBLISHED
SINCE 1952
 
Proceeding cover
proceedings
of the estonian academy of sciences
ISSN 1736-7530 (Electronic)
ISSN 1736-6046 (Print)
Impact Factor (2024): 0.7

Research article
Feasibility evaluation of hydrogen as seasonal energy storage for energy-neutral neighborhoods; pp. 285–301
PDF | https://doi.org/10.3176/proc.2026.4.03

Authors
Ievgen Verbytskyi ORCID Icon, Andrei Blinov ORCID Icon, Dmitri Vinnikov ORCID Icon
Abstract

he decarbonization of the European Union energy sector is associated with large-scale integration of renewable energy sources (RES) and a transition toward decentralized electricity supply architectures. While residential energy storage systems (ESS) based on electrochemical batteries enable short-term balancing of renewable generation, their limited energy capacity and high cost make them unsuitable for seasonal energy storage, leading to significant curtailment of renewable energy production. Hydrogen-based energy storage is considered a promising alternative due to its high specific energy capacity and suitability for long-term storage, despite low round-trip electrical efficiency and infrastructural challenges. This paper evaluates the feasibility of hydrogen technologies for electrical energy storage in RES-based residential power systems in Estonia. The analysis is based on a real Estonian household dataset and considers metrics such as near-zero energy consumption, grid-support capability, and RES energy utilization. A comparative assessment of daily and seasonal ESS configur ations together with a techno-economic comparison of battery and hydrogen-based storage systems is performed. Special attention is given to the utilization of waste heat generated during hydrogen-to-electricity conversion for residential heating, which is identified as a key condition for achieving economic feasibility and improving overall system efficiency.

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