Abstract
Quantifying the Impact of Variable Fuel Cell Efficiency in a Hybrid Energy System on the Great Barrier Reef
2025 IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference Europe (ISGT Europe), pp.1-5
2025 IEEE Innovative Smart Grid Technologies, Europe (ISGT Europe) (Valletta, Malta, 20/10/2025–23/10/2025)
30/12/2025
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Abstract
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR), ranks among Earth's most extensive reef systems. However, the GBR is increasingly threatened by climate change and rising sea temperatures. To mitigate coral bleaching, marine cloud brightening is being explored, but its reliance on diesel generators conflicts with global decarbonization goals. This study proposes a fully renewable energy system to power the cloud brightening machine, consisting of a 180-kW fuel cell, 160-kW solar photovoltaic array, and 200-kWh 60-kW battery. The fuel cell's variable efficiency is modeled using three efficiency curves ranging from 40% to 60% and evaluated performance at three GBR locations. Results show that ignoring efficiency variability can underestimate hydrogen consumption by 1.4% to 4.7%, equivalent to 30-107 kg of hydrogen. This highlights the need for accurate fuel cell modeling to avoid underestimating storage requirements and operating costs, ensuring reliable and sustainable system design.
Details
- Title
- Quantifying the Impact of Variable Fuel Cell Efficiency in a Hybrid Energy System on the Great Barrier Reef
- Creators
- Dan Virah-Sawmy - Australian National UniversityBjorn Sturmberg - Australian National UniversityDaniel P. Harrison - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- 2025 IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference Europe (ISGT Europe), pp.1-5
- Conference
- 2025 IEEE Innovative Smart Grid Technologies, Europe (ISGT Europe) (Valletta, Malta, 20/10/2025–23/10/2025)
- Publisher
- IEEE
- Grant note
- Great Barrier Reef Foundation (10.13039/100015344)
- Identifiers
- 9798331525033; 9798331525040; 991013340625102368
- Copyright
- © 2025, IEEE.
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; National Marine Science Centre; Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Abstract