Hydrogen operation plan formulation device and method

Abstract

According to the present invention, a manufacturing, conversion, and transport plan for hydrogen and a hydrogen carrier is formulated by: using past data to respectively calculate, for each past prescribed time slot in a target region, the correlation among parameters constituted of a prediction value of a renewable energy power generation amount, a prediction value of a power demand amount, a prediction value of a hydrogen demand amount, storage amounts of the hydrogen and hydrogen carrier, reciprocal conversion amounts between the hydrogen and hydrogen carrier, and transport amounts of the hydrogen and hydrogen carrier; creating a mathematical model of an operation cost of the hydrogen and hydrogen carrier by utilizing the calculation results; and using the created mathematical model and the prediction value of the renewable energy power generation amount and the like for each time slot of a target date or time period to calculate, for each time slot, the storage amounts of the hydrogen and hydrogen carrier, the reciprocal conversion amounts between the hydrogen and hydrogen carrier, and the transport amounts of the hydrogen and hydrogen carrier that reduce the operation cost of the hydrogen and hydrogen carrier.

Description

Hydrogen Utilization Plan Formulation Device and Method

[0001] The present invention relates to a hydrogen utilization plan formulation device and method, and is suitable for application to a hydrogen utilization plan formulation device that formulates an optimal operation plan for hydrogen for producing hydrogen using surplus power of a power grid or converting the produced hydrogen into electric power for utilization.

[0002] Conventionally, many renewable energy power generation facilities (hereinafter referred to as renewable energy power generation facilities) are connected to the power grid that supplies power to houses, commercial facilities, etc. However, the amount of renewable energy generated in renewable energy power generation facilities depends on the weather and is difficult to adjust. For this reason, the amount of renewable energy generated may exceed the power demand, and the surplus renewable energy has been discarded.

[0003] Under such circumstances, in recent years, it has been proposed to effectively utilize surplus power by absorbing it through hydrogen production and sales. In relation to such a proposal, for example, in Patent Document 1, based on the predicted value of power demand and the required power amount of hydrogen based on the predicted value of hydrogen demand, under the conditions where the predicted value of hydrogen demand can be supplied, an integrated energy plan including a power generation plan and a hydrogen production plan is formulated and presented based on information on the costs of power generation and hydrogen production.

[0004] Also, in Patent Document 2, a technique for optimally evaluating the spatio-temporal uncertainty of renewable energy has been proposed. Specifically, in Patent Document 2, based on the past performance of uncertain data having uncertainty and a robustness parameter, an uncertainty data variation range regarding the amount of variation per unit time or the amount of variation per unit space of the uncertain data is created to generate constraint formula information of the uncertainty data variation range, and a system operation plan of the power system is generated by referring to the generated constraint formula information. Thereby, a system operation plan that achieves both robustness against prediction deviation and minimization of system operation cost can be obtained.

[0005] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2024-70064 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2024-36960

[0006] Incidentally, hydrogen can be stored by compression or liquefaction, or by converting it into hydrogen compounds such as MCH (methylcyclohexane) or ammonia, and the responsiveness varies depending on the storage method. Therefore, these factors must be taken into consideration when formulating a hydrogen operation plan. Furthermore, there is uncertainty in the amount of surplus electricity and the amount of hydrogen sold, and it is necessary to appropriately evaluate these when generating hydrogen using surplus electricity. However, Patent Document 1 does not take into consideration any of these uncertainties regarding hydrogen storage methods, the amount of surplus electricity, or the amount of hydrogen sold.

[0007] Furthermore, the uncertainty of hydrogen demand presents a problem in that, unlike renewable energy generation which is affected by weather conditions or the electricity demand required by all entities, robust optimization cannot be simply applied as described in Patent Document 2.

[0008] This invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and aims to propose a hydrogen operation planning device and method that can formulate an overall optimal hydrogen operation plan.

[0009] To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a hydrogen operation planning device that plans the production, conversion, and transportation of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be converted into electricity as needed, as a hydrogen operation plan, the device comprising a memory for storing a program and a processor for executing the program stored in the memory, the processor calculating the correlation between each of the parameters for each predetermined time period in the past within the target area, such as the predicted amount of renewable energy generation, the predicted amount of electricity demand, the predicted amount of hydrogen demand, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers converted into each other, and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers transported, using past data, and the correlation between each of the calculated parameters Using the relevant data, a mathematical model was created to calculate the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be stored, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be converted between hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be transported, which will reduce the operating costs of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, for each time period of the target day or period. This was done in order to formulate a plan for the production, conversion, and transport of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers.

[0010] Furthermore, the present invention provides a hydrogen operation planning method executed by a hydrogen operation planning device that plans the production, conversion, and transportation of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be converted into electricity as needed, as a hydrogen operation plan, comprising: a first step of calculating the correlation between each parameter of the past for each predetermined time period within a target area, such as predicted renewable energy generation amount, predicted electricity demand amount, predicted hydrogen demand amount, amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored, amount of conversion between hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, and amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers transported, using past data; and a mathematical model of the operation costs of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers using the calculated correlation between each of the parameters. The system includes a second step of creating a model, and a third step of formulating a plan for the production, conversion, and transportation of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers by using the following: a second step of creating a model; a third step of creating a model; a third step of using the following: a second step of creating a model; a third step of creating a model;

[0011] As a result, the hydrogen operation planning apparatus and method of the present invention can optimize the hydrogen operation plan from the perspective of the entire system. Furthermore, by also considering hydrogen storage and transportation, it is possible to level out the uncertainty of hydrogen demand by the amount of hydrogen stored. In addition, robust optimization can be performed by using the correlation of information including uncertainties such as renewable energy generation amount, electricity demand and hydrogen demand.

[0012] According to the present invention, a hydrogen operation planning apparatus and method can be realized that can formulate an overall optimal hydrogen operation plan.

[0013] This is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the hydrogen operation planning system according to this embodiment. This is a diagram showing an example configuration of the storage cost and storage energy management tables. This is a diagram showing an example configuration of the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion cost management table. This is a diagram showing an example configuration of the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion energy management table. This is a diagram showing an example configuration of the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion time management table. This is a diagram showing an example configuration of the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion possible upper limit management table. This is a diagram showing an example configuration of the historical information / correlation management table. This is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the correlation calculation process. This is a diagram used to explain each parameter of the constants, acquired data and decision variables, as well as the constraints and objective function. This is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the hydrogen operation planning process. This is a diagram used to explain the renewable energy generation forecast values ​​acquired by the hydrogen operation planning program. This is a diagram used to explain the electricity demand forecast values ​​acquired by the hydrogen operation planning program. This is a diagram used to explain the hydrogen demand forecast values ​​acquired by the hydrogen operation planning program. This is a diagram illustrating the potential storage amounts of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers acquired by the hydrogen operation planning program. This is a diagram illustrating the current storage amounts of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers acquired by the hydrogen operation planning program. This is a diagram showing an example of the screen configuration of the hydrogen operation planning screen. This is a graph illustrating other embodiments.

[0014] An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0015] (1) In the diagram 1 of the configuration of the hydrogen operation planning device according to this embodiment, 1 represents the hydrogen operation planning system according to this embodiment as a whole. This hydrogen operation planning system 1 is composed of one or more power demand / generation forecast information providing devices 2, hydrogen demand forecast information providing device 3, hydrogen tank control device 4, hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport truck operation planning device 5, hydrogen carrier tank control device 6, hydrogen / hydrogen carrier production device 7, hydrogen gas pipeline control device 8, and weather information server 9, and a hydrogen operation planning device 11 connected via a network 10 such as the Internet.

[0016] The power demand and power generation forecasting information providing device 2 is a server device installed by, for example, a power company or a renewable energy power generation company. It forecasts the amount of power generated for each time period (hereinafter referred to as each hourly time period) of all renewable energy power generation facilities located within the area targeted by the hydrogen operation planning device 11 (hereinafter referred to as the target area), and the amount of power demand for each time period of each power consumer within the target area, and provides these forecast values ​​to the hydrogen operation planning device 11.

[0017] Furthermore, the hydrogen demand forecasting information provision device 3 is a server device installed by, for example, a hydrogen station operating company within the target area, which forecasts the amount of hydrogen demand for each time period across the entire target area and provides the forecast results to the hydrogen operation planning device 11.

[0018] The hydrogen tank control device 4 is a control device that manages and controls hydrogen tanks within a target area owned by businesses that produce and store hydrogen. Hydrogen tanks store hydrogen in a gaseous, compressed, or liquefied state. The hydrogen tank control device 4 provides the hydrogen operation planning device 11 with information such as the current amount of hydrogen stored in the hydrogen tank to be managed and controlled, and the maximum amount of hydrogen that can be stored in that hydrogen tank. In the following, the maximum amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carriers that can be stored in equipment capable of storing hydrogen or hydrogen carriers, such as hydrogen tanks and hydrogen carrier tanks, will be referred to as the possible storage amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carriers in that equipment.

[0019] The hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport truck operation planning device 5 is a computer device owned by transport operators transporting hydrogen and hydrogen carriers within the target area, and it plans the operation of each transport vehicle (hereinafter referred to as transport truck) that transports hydrogen and hydrogen carriers. The hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport truck operation planning device 5 also provides the hydrogen operation planning device 11 with information such as the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers transported from one point to another during each time period, based on the planned operation plan. Furthermore, the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport truck operation planning device 5 also provides the hydrogen operation planning device 11 with information such as the possible storage amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers for each transport truck and the storage amount for each time period.

[0020] The hydrogen carrier tank control device 6 is a control device that manages and controls hydrogen carrier tanks within a target area owned by businesses that manufacture or store hydrogen carriers such as MCH or ammonia. The hydrogen carrier tank control device 6 provides the hydrogen operation planning device 11 with information such as the possible storage capacity of the hydrogen carrier tanks to be managed and controlled, and the type and amount of hydrogen carriers stored in those tanks at each time period.

[0021] The hydrogen / hydrogen carrier production equipment 7 is a production device owned by a business operator within the target area that produces hydrogen or hydrogen carriers such as MCH or ammonia. It produces hydrogen in gaseous, compressed, or liquid state from electricity or ammonia, and produces hydrogen carriers such as MCH or ammonia from hydrogen. The hydrogen / hydrogen carrier production equipment 7 also provides the hydrogen operation planning device 11 with the amount of electricity, hydrogen, or hydrogen carriers converted to other electricity, hydrogen, or hydrogen carriers (amount of electricity generated, amount of hydrogen, or hydrogen carriers produced) for each time period.

[0022] The hydrogen gas pipeline control device 8 is a control device that manages and controls hydrogen gas pipelines located within the target area. The hydrogen gas pipeline control device 8 provides the hydrogen operation planning device 11 with information such as the possible amount of hydrogen to be stored in the hydrogen gas pipeline to be managed and controlled, and the amount of hydrogen gas stored in the hydrogen gas pipeline at each time period.

[0023] The weather information server 9 is a server device owned by, for example, the Japan Meteorological Agency or a private weather information provider, and provides weather information such as solar radiation and temperature for the current, past, and future time periods within the target area, as well as weather forecast information, to the hydrogen operation planning device 11.

[0024] In the following explanation, the following devices connected to the hydrogen operation planning device 11 via the network 10 may be collectively referred to as external devices of the hydrogen operation planning device 11: the power demand / generation forecast information provider 2, the hydrogen demand forecast information provider 3, the hydrogen tank control device 4, the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport truck operation planning device 5, the hydrogen carrier tank control device 6, the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier manufacturing device 7, the hydrogen gas pipeline control device 8, and the weather information server 9.

[0025] On the other hand, the hydrogen operation planning device 11 is a computer device that has the function of planning hydrogen operations within the target area for a specified date or period (hereinafter referred to as the next day). The hydrogen operation planning device 11 is composed of information processing resources such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 20, memory 21, storage device 22, communication device 23, input device 24, and display device 25.

[0026] The CPU 20 is a processor that controls the operation of the entire hydrogen operation planning device 11. The memory 21 is composed of, for example, volatile semiconductor memory and is used to temporarily hold various program data. Furthermore, the storage device 22 is composed of a large-capacity non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk drive or SSD (Solid State Drive) and is used to hold programs and data that needs to be stored for a long period of time.

[0027] The program stored in the storage device 22 is read into the memory 21 when the hydrogen operation planning device 11 is started up or when necessary. The CPU 20 then executes the program read into the memory 21, thereby performing various processes for the hydrogen operation planning device 11 as a whole, as described later.

[0028] The communication device 23 is composed of, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card) and performs protocol control when communicating with external devices such as the power demand / generation forecast information providing device 2 via the network 10.

[0029] The input device 24 is a device used by the user to input various data and commands, and consists of, for example, a keyboard or mouse. The display device 25 is a device that displays necessary information, and consists of, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display. Alternatively, a touch panel integrating the input device 24 and the display device 25 may be used instead.

[0030] (2) Hydrogen Operation Planning Function According to This Embodiment Next, the hydrogen operation planning function according to this embodiment, which is installed in the hydrogen operation planning device 11, will be described. This hydrogen operation planning function is a function that plans hydrogen operations considering the production, storage and transportation of hydrogen in various states (gaseous, compressed, and liquid) and all types of hydrogen carriers present in the target area, as well as the correlation between various parameters based on past data.

[0031] In practice, hydrogen can be stored and transported, and by developing a hydrogen operation plan that includes not only production but also storage and transport plans, the overall hydrogen operation plan can be optimized. Furthermore, by considering hydrogen storage and transport, it is possible to smooth out the uncertainty of hydrogen demand by adjusting the amount of hydrogen stored. The amount of hydrogen stored can include the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored on transport trucks, as well as the volume of hydrogen gas in hydrogen gas pipelines (line packs). In line packs, hydrogen gas is usually pressurized, which allows for the storage of a large volume.

[0032] Furthermore, while renewable energy generation, electricity demand, and hydrogen demand contain uncertainties, they are correlated, and robust optimization can be performed by utilizing these correlations.

[0033] Therefore, the hydrogen operation planning device 11 of this embodiment calculates the correlation between a total of eight parameters based on past data: five types of parameters, including the predicted amount of renewable energy generation in each time period in the past (hereinafter referred to as the predicted renewable energy generation amount), the predicted amount of electricity demand (hereinafter referred to as the predicted electricity demand amount), the predicted amount of hydrogen demand (hereinafter referred to as the predicted hydrogen demand amount), the possible storage amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers in the entire target area, and the current storage amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers in the entire target area; and three types of parameters, including the storage amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers in each time period in the past, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers converted (the amount converted from electricity, hydrogen, or hydrogen carriers to other forms of electricity, hydrogen, or hydrogen carriers), and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers transported.

[0034] The hydrogen operation planning device 11 then uses the correlation between these calculated parameters to plan hydrogen operations for each hourly period so that the total cost of storing hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, power generation, conversion between hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, and transportation of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers is minimized (typically to the minimum).

[0035] As a means to realize such a hydrogen operation planning function, the storage device 22 of the hydrogen operation planning device 11 in this embodiment stores a storage cost and storage energy management table 30, a hydrogen-hydrogen carrier conversion cost management table 31, a hydrogen-hydrogen carrier conversion energy management table 32, a hydrogen-hydrogen carrier conversion time management table 33, a hydrogen-hydrogen carrier conversion possible upper limit management table 34, and a past information and correlation management table 35. In addition, the memory 21 of the hydrogen operation planning device 11 stores a correlation calculation program 36, a hydrogen operation planning program 37, and an optimization program 38 that have been read from the storage device 22.

[0036] The storage cost and energy management table 30 is a table for managing the costs and energy required when storing hydrogen in a hydrogen tank, compressed hydrogen in a compressed hydrogen tank, liquefied hydrogen in a liquefied hydrogen tank, MCH in an MCH tank, and ammonia in an ammonia tank, respectively. It is created in advance and provided to the hydrogen operation planning device 11.

[0037] This storage cost and storage energy management table 30 has rows corresponding to hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquefied hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia, and these rows are divided into a storage cost column 30A and a storage energy column 30B, respectively.

[0038] The storage cost column 30A for each row stores the cost of storing a unit amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carrier in the corresponding form in the corresponding tank, and the storage energy column 30B for each row stores the energy required to store a unit amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carrier in the corresponding form in the corresponding tank.

[0039] Therefore, in the case of Figure 2, the cost of storing a unit amount of "hydrogen" in a hydrogen tank is "1.0", and the energy required for that storage is "0.2".

[0040] In Figure 2, the units for the values ​​in each storage cost column 30A can be "yen / kL·second" and the units for the values ​​in each storage energy column 30B can be "kWh / kL". However, various units can be applied as long as they are consistent. The same applies to Figures 3 to 7 below, and therefore, all units will be omitted in the following.

[0041] The hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion cost management table 31 is a table for managing the costs required when converting unit amounts of electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia into other forms of electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, or ammonia, and is created in advance and provided to the hydrogen operation planning device 11.

[0042] As shown in Figure 3, this hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion cost management table 31 is formed in a table format having rows 31A corresponding to electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia, respectively, and columns 31B corresponding to electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia, respectively.

[0043] In the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion cost management table 31, the cost required to convert a unit quantity of the first element (electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, or ammonia) corresponding to any row 31A to the second element (electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, or ammonia) corresponding to any column 31B is stored in the column where row 31A and column 31B intersect. Note that "-" in the figure indicates that conversion from the corresponding source to the corresponding destination is not possible. The same applies to Figures 4 to 7 below.

[0044] Therefore, in the case of Figure 3, for example, the conversion from "hydrogen" to "electricity" costs "100", the conversion from "hydrogen" to "compressed hydrogen" costs "30", the conversion from "hydrogen" to "liquid hydrogen" costs "50", the conversion from "hydrogen" to "MCH" costs "80", and the conversion from "hydrogen" to "ammonia" costs "100".

[0045] The hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion energy management table 32 is a table for managing the energy required when converting a unit amount of electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia into other forms of electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, or ammonia, and is created in advance and provided to the hydrogen operation planning device 11.

[0046] As shown in Figure 4, this hydrogen carrier conversion energy management table 32 is also formed in a table format, with each row 32A corresponding to power, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia, and each column 32B corresponding to power, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia.

[0047] In the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion energy management table 32, the energy required to convert a unit quantity of a first element (electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, or ammonia) corresponding to any row 32A to a second element (electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, or ammonia) corresponding to any column 32B is stored in the column where row 32A and column 32B intersect.

[0048] Therefore, in the case of Figure 4, for example, it is shown that the conversion from "hydrogen" to "electricity" requires "1.0" energy, the conversion from "hydrogen" to "compressed hydrogen" requires "1.0" energy, the conversion from "hydrogen" to "liquid hydrogen" requires "1.5" energy, the conversion from "hydrogen" to "MCH" requires "2.0" energy, and the conversion from "hydrogen" to "ammonia" requires "2.0" energy.

[0049] The hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion time management table 33 is a table for managing the time required to convert unit amounts of electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia into other forms of electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, or ammonia, and is created in advance and provided to the hydrogen operation planning device 11.

[0050] As shown in Figure 5, this hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion time management table 33 is also formed in a table format, having rows 33A corresponding to power, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia, respectively, and columns 33B corresponding to power, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia, respectively.

[0051] In the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion time management table 33, the time required to convert a unit quantity of the first element (electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, or ammonia) corresponding to any row 33A to the second element (electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, or ammonia) corresponding to any column 33B is stored in the column where row 33A and column 33B intersect.

[0052] Therefore, in the case of Figure 5, for example, it is shown that the conversion from "hydrogen" to "electricity" takes "0" time, the conversion from "hydrogen" to "compressed hydrogen" takes "0" time, the conversion from "hydrogen" to "liquid hydrogen" takes "1" time, the conversion from "hydrogen" to "MCH" takes "1" time, and the conversion from "hydrogen" to "ammonia" takes "1" time.

[0053] The hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion limit management table 34 is a table used in the hydrogen operation planning system 1 to manage the upper limits of how much electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia can be converted per unit time into other forms of electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, or ammonia, respectively. It is created in advance and provided to the hydrogen operation planning device 11.

[0054] As shown in Figure 6, this hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion limit management table 34 is also formed in a table format, having rows 34A corresponding to power, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia, and columns 34B corresponding to power, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia, respectively.

[0055] In the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion limit management table 34, the upper limit amount that can be converted within a unit time from a first element (electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, or ammonia) corresponding to any row 33A to a second element (electricity, hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, MCH, or ammonia) corresponding to any column 33B is stored in the column where the first element's column and the second element's row intersect.

[0056] Therefore, in the case of Figure 6, it is shown that in this hydrogen operation planning system 1, the upper limit per unit time for conversion from "hydrogen" to "electricity," "compressed hydrogen," "liquid hydrogen," "MCH," and "ammonia" is all "200."

[0057] The historical information and correlation management table 35 is a table for storing various information for each time period of at least the previous day, which the hydrogen operation planning program 37 (Figure 1) has acquired from external devices such as the power demand / generation forecast information providing device 2 (Figure 1) via the network 10 (Figure 1), as described later. Information for weather information, renewable energy generation forecasts, power demand forecasts, and hydrogen demand forecasts is collected and stored for at least the period required for hydrogen operation planning (for example, up to the next day), while information up to the present is collected and stored for all other information.

[0058] In practice, the historical information and correlation management table 35 is configured as shown in Figure 7, comprising a time zone column 35A, a weather information column 35B, a renewable energy generation amount column 35C, an electricity demand amount column 35D, a hydrogen demand amount column 35E, a hydrogen / hydrogen carrier storage amount column 35F, a hydrogen / hydrogen carrier storage amount column 35G, a hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion amount column 35H, and a hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport amount column 35I. In the historical information and correlation management table 35, one record (row) corresponds to one time zone.

[0059] The time zone column 35A stores the start date and time of the corresponding time zone. The weather information column 35B is divided into a solar radiation column 35BA and a temperature column 35BB, where the average solar radiation and average temperature for the corresponding time zone in the target area, obtained by the hydrogen operation planning program 37 from the weather information provision server 9, are stored.

[0060] Furthermore, the renewable energy generation column 35C is divided into several sub-columns 35CA, each corresponding to a renewable energy power generation facility located within the target area. Within these sub-columns 35CA, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 stores the predicted renewable energy generation values ​​for the corresponding renewable energy power generation facilities during the corresponding time period, which it has obtained from the power demand / generation forecast information provider 2.

[0061] The electricity demand column 35D is divided into several sub-columns 35DA, each corresponding to an individual electricity consumer within the target area. Within these sub-columns 35DA, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 stores the predicted electricity demand values ​​for the corresponding electricity consumer during the corresponding time period, which it has obtained from the electricity demand / generation forecast information provider 2.

[0062] Furthermore, the hydrogen demand column 35E stores the total hydrogen demand forecast value for the corresponding time period in the target area, which the hydrogen operation planning program 37 obtained from the hydrogen demand forecast information providing device 3.

[0063] The hydrogen / hydrogen carrier storage capacity column 35F is divided into multiple sub-columns 35FA, corresponding to various facilities and transport trucks capable of storing hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, such as hydrogen tanks, hydrogen carrier tanks, hydrogen and hydrogen carrier transport trucks, and hydrogen gas pipelines, that exist within the target area.

[0064] These sub-columns 35FA each store the amount of hydrogen that can be stored in the corresponding facility or transport truck during the corresponding time period, which is obtained by the hydrogen operation planning program 37 from the hydrogen tank control device 4, the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport truck operation planning device 5, the hydrogen carrier tank control device 6, and the hydrogen gas pipeline control device 8, etc.

[0065] Similarly, the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier storage column 35G is divided into multiple sub-columns 35GA, corresponding to various facilities and transport trucks capable of storing hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, such as hydrogen tanks, hydrogen carrier tanks, hydrogen and hydrogen carrier transport trucks, and hydrogen gas pipelines, that exist within the target area.

[0066] These sub-columns 35GA store the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored in the corresponding facilities or transport trucks during the corresponding time period, which is obtained by the hydrogen operation planning program 37 from the hydrogen tank control device 4, the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport truck operation planning device 5, the hydrogen carrier tank control device 6, and the hydrogen gas pipeline control device 8, respectively.

[0067] The hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion column 35H is divided into several sub-columns 35HA, each corresponding to a different conversion pattern from electricity, hydrogen, or a hydrogen carrier to another form of electricity, hydrogen, or a hydrogen carrier, such as "electricity → hydrogen," "electricity → ammonia," "hydrogen → electricity," "hydrogen → compressed hydrogen," "hydrogen → liquefied hydrogen," "hydrogen → MCH," "hydrogen → ammonia," "MCH → hydrogen," "MCH → compressed hydrogen," "MCH → liquefied hydrogen," "ammonia → electricity," "ammonia → hydrogen," "ammonia → compressed hydrogen," and "ammonia → liquefied hydrogen." Note that "〇→△" here represents a conversion pattern from "〇" to "△."

[0068] These sub-columns 35HA store the amount of conversion obtained by the hydrogen operation planning program 37 from the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier production equipment 7 within the target area, in a conversion pattern corresponding to the corresponding time period, from electricity, hydrogen, or hydrogen carrier to other electricity, hydrogen, or hydrogen carriers.

[0069] Furthermore, the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport volume column 35I is divided into multiple sub-columns 35IA, corresponding to combinations of hydrogen or hydrogen carrier transport patterns from one location to another (such as "Location 1 → Location 2" and "Location 1 → Location 3") and the types of hydrogen or hydrogen carriers being transported. Here, "Location ○ → Location △" represents the hydrogen or hydrogen carrier transport pattern from "Location ○" to "Location △".

[0070] These sub-columns 35IA store the estimated amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carrier transported in the corresponding transport pattern for the corresponding time period, which was obtained by the hydrogen operation planning program 37 from the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport truck operation planning device 5 within the target area.

[0071] On the other hand, the correlation calculation program 36 is a program that has the function of clustering datasets consisting of sets of solar radiation, temperature, renewable energy generation forecast values, electricity demand forecast values, and hydrogen demand forecast values ​​for each time period, from among the various types of information stored in the historical information / correlation management table 35.

[0072] Furthermore, the correlation calculation program 36 calculates the correlation between the predicted renewable energy generation amount, the predicted electricity demand amount, the predicted hydrogen demand amount, the possible storage amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers converted, and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers transported, for each cluster obtained through such clustering.

[0073] The hydrogen operation planning program 37 is a program that collects necessary information from external devices such as the power demand / generation forecast information provider 2 via the network 10, stores it in the historical information / correlation management table 35, and controls the optimization program 38 to formulate a hydrogen operation plan.

[0074] Furthermore, the optimization program 38 is a program composed of a semi-definite programming (SDP) solver and the like. The optimization program 38 uses the correlations between the predicted renewable energy generation amount, predicted electricity demand, predicted hydrogen demand, possible hydrogen / hydrogen carrier storage amount, hydrogen / hydrogen carrier storage amount, hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion amount, and hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport amount, as calculated by the correlation calculation program 36, to determine the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier storage amount, the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion amount, and the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport amount for each one-hour time period, thereby formulating a hydrogen operation plan for each time period.

[0075] The more specific functions of the correlation calculation program 36, the hydrogen operation planning program 37, and the optimization program 38 will be described later.

[0076] (3) Various processes related to the hydrogen operation planning function Next, the specific processing details of the various processes performed in the hydrogen operation planning device 11 in relation to the hydrogen operation planning function will be explained. In the following, the processing entity of the various processes will be described as a "program," but it goes without saying that in practice, the CPU 20 (Figure 1) of the hydrogen operation planning device 11 executes the processing based on that program.

[0077] (3-1) Correlation Coefficient Calculation Process Figure 8 shows the flow of the correlation coefficient calculation process performed by the correlation calculation program 36. The correlation calculation program 36, following the processing procedure shown in Figure 8, calculates the correlation coefficient for each hourly time period between two parameters from among the parameters of the "acquired data" and the parameters of the "decision variables" shown in Figure 9, based on the various data stored in the past information / correlation management table 35, for all combinations of parameters.

[0078] Furthermore, in the five "acquired data" shown in Figure 9, the "predicted renewable energy generation value E" Ｇｉ "(t)" represents the predicted renewable energy generation amount of a renewable energy power generation facility named "i" within the target area during the time period "t". Therefore, "Predicted Renewable Energy Generation Amount E Ｇｉ The parameter "(t)" exists in the same number as the number of renewable energy power generation facilities that exist within the target area during the time period "t".

[0079] Also, "Electricity demand forecast value E Ｄｉ "(t)" represents the predicted electricity demand value for electricity consumer "i" within the target area during the time period "t". Therefore, "Predicted electricity demand value E Ｄｉ There are as many parameters of type "(t)" as there are electricity consumers in the target area during the time period "t".

[0080] Furthermore, "Hydrogen demand forecast value h" Ｄ "(t)" represents the predicted hydrogen demand value for the entire target area during the time period "t". Therefore, "predicted hydrogen demand value h Ｄ There is only one parameter of type "(t)" for the time period "t".

[0081] On the other hand, "Hydrogen and hydrogen carrier potential storage amount H" Ｓｉ"(t)" represents the possible storage amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carriers in all facilities or transport trucks capable of storing hydrogen or hydrogen carriers, such as hydrogen tanks, hydrogen carrier tanks, hydrogen, or transport trucks of hydrogen or hydrogen carriers, within the target area during the time period "t". Also, "Hydrogen / Hydrogen Carrier Storage Amount (Current) h" Ｓｉ "(0)" represents the current storage amount of the corresponding hydrogen or hydrogen carrier in such facilities or transport trucks.

[0082] Therefore, the types of parameters "Possible Hydrogen / Hydrogen Carrier Storage Amount H" Ｓｉ "(t)" and "Hydrogen / Hydrogen Carrier Current Storage Amount (Current) h" Ｓｉ "(0)" exist in the same number as all facilities and transport trucks capable of storing hydrogen or hydrogen carriers within the target area for the time period "t".

[0083] Also, the three "decision variables" shown in FIG. 9 are decision variables in the objective function to be described later for equation (8). The "Hydrogen / Hydrogen Carrier Storage Amount h" Ｓｉ "(t)" in this "decision variable" represents the storage amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carriers of "i" within the target area during the time period "t". Therefore, the type of parameter "Hydrogen / Hydrogen Carrier Storage Amount h" Ｓｉ "(t)" exists in the same number as all facilities and transport trucks capable of storing hydrogen or hydrogen carriers within the target area for the time period "t".

[0084] Also, the "Hydrogen / Hydrogen Carrier Conversion Amount h" Ｔｉｊ "(t)" represents the conversion amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carriers of "i" to other hydrogen carriers or hydrogen in the entire target area during the time period "t". Therefore, the type of parameter "Hydrogen / Hydrogen Carrier Conversion Amount h" Ｔｉｊ "(t)" exists in the same number as the conversions from electric power, hydrogen, or hydrogen carriers to other electric power, hydrogen, or hydrogen carriers performed during the time period "t".

[0085] Furthermore, the "Hydrogen / Hydrogen Carrier Transport Amount h" Ｃｉｊ"(t)" represents the amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carrier transported from point "i" to point "j" during the time period "t". Therefore, "Hydrogen / Hydrogen Carrier Transport Amount h" Ｃｉｊ There are as many parameters of type "(t)" as there were times when hydrogen or hydrogen carriers were transported from one point to another during the time period "t".

[0086] Furthermore, in the following explanation, as shown in Figure 9, the cost of storing hydrogen or hydrogen carriers in the corresponding tank, represented by "i" obtained from the water storage cost and stored energy management table 30 (Figure 2), is C Ｓｉ , the energy at that time is E Ｓｉ Furthermore, the conversion cost from hydrogen or hydrogen carrier "i" to hydrogen carrier or hydrogen "j", obtained from the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion cost management table 31 (Figure 3), is C Ｔｉｊ The conversion energy from hydrogen or hydrogen carrier "i" to hydrogen carrier or hydrogen "j" obtained from the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion energy management table 32 (Figure 4) is E Ｔｉｊ The conversion time from hydrogen or hydrogen carrier "i" to hydrogen carrier or hydrogen "j" obtained from the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion time management table 33 (Figure 5) is T Ｔｉｊ P is the maximum amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carriers, represented by "i", that can be converted per unit time to hydrogen carriers or hydrogen, represented by "j", obtained from the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion limit management table 34 (Figure 6). Ｕｉｊ These values ​​are provided in advance as constants to the hydrogen operation planning device 11, as described above with respect to Figures 2 to 6.

[0087] Furthermore, the cost of transporting hydrogen or hydrogen carriers from location "i" to location "j", obtained from the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport truck operation planning device 5, is C Ｃｉｊ The time required for that transportation is T Ｃｉｊ These values ​​are also assumed to be given in advance as constants to the hydrogen operation planning device 11. Furthermore, the correlation coefficient R represents the correlation between the parameter "p" and the parameter "q" during the time period "t".ｐｑ Let (t) be the case.

[0088] Returning to the explanation of Figure 8, the correlation calculation program 36 periodically (for example, once a day) starts the correlation coefficient calculation process shown in Figure 8. The correlation calculation program 36 first refers to the historical information / correlation management table 35 and obtains the average solar radiation and average temperature for a certain time period t, and the predicted renewable energy generation amount E for that time period t. Ｇｉ (t) and the predicted power demand value E for that time period t. Ｄｉ (t) and the predicted hydrogen demand h for that time period t. Ｄ (t) is used as the dataset for that time period t, and the dataset for each hourly time period t is clustered into multiple clusters using, for example, the k-means method (S1).

[0089] As mentioned above, "Renewable energy generation forecast value E Ｇｉ Parameters of the type "(t)" and "Electricity demand forecast value E Ｄｉ There are multiple parameters of the type "(t)". ​​For this reason, in step S1, the correlation calculation program 36 calculates "renewable energy generation forecast value E Ｇｉ Each parameter of the type "(t)" and "Power demand forecast value E Ｄｉ This will involve clustering the same number of datasets as the total number of combinations with each parameter of type (t).

[0090] Next, the correlation calculation program 36 selects one cluster from the clusters generated in step S1 that has not been processed in step S3 or later (S2).

[0091] Next, the correlation calculation program 36 calculates "electricity demand forecast value E Ｄｉ All parameters of the type "(t)" and "Renewable energy generation forecast value E Ｇｉ All parameters of the type "(t)" and "Hydrogen demand forecast value h" Ｄ A parameter of the type "(t)" and "Hydrogen / Hydrogen Carrier Potential Storage Amount H" Ｓｉ All parameters of the type "(t)" and "Hydrogen / hydrogen carrier storage amount h"Ｓｉ All parameters of the type (t), and hydrogen / hydrogen carrier storage amount h Ｓｉ All parameters of type (t) and the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion amount h Ｔｉｊ All parameters of the type (t), and hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport volume h Ｃｉｊ From the parameter group P consisting of all parameters of type (t), the first parameter p that has not been processed since step S4 (hereinafter referred to as the first parameter) is selected (S3).

[0092] Next, the correlation calculation program 36 selects a second parameter q (hereinafter referred to as the second parameter) from the parameter group P that is different from the first parameter p which has not been processed since step S5 (S4). Furthermore, the correlation calculation program 36 selects one time period τ from the hourly time periods of the day which has not been processed since step S6 (S5).

[0093] The correlation calculation program 36 then calculates the correlation coefficient R between the first and second parameters p and q in the time period τ selected in step S5 in the selected cluster. ｐｑ (τ) is calculated (S6).

[0094] Note that the correlation coefficient R in this case ｐｑ Various types and calculation methods can be applied to (τ). For example, the correlation coefficient R ｐｑ Using (τ) as the sample correlation coefficient, the correlation coefficient R is calculated using a known method for calculating the sample correlation coefficient. ｐｑ (τ) is calculated, and the correlation coefficient R ｐｑ Using (τ) as the population correlation coefficient, the correlation coefficient R is calculated using a known method for calculating population correlation coefficients. ｐｑ We should calculate (τ).

[0095] Subsequently, the correlation calculation program 36 calculates the correlation coefficient R between the first and second parameters p and q for all time periods t. ｐｑIt is determined whether or not (τ) has been calculated (S7). If the correlation calculation program 36 obtains a negative result in this determination, it returns to step S5, and thereafter repeats the process from step S5 to step S7, sequentially switching the time period selected in step S5 to other time periods that have not been processed from step S6 onwards.

[0096] The correlation calculation program 36 then obtains a positive result in step S7 by completing the process in step S6 for all time periods, and then determines whether or not it has finished selecting all parameters other than the first parameter p that was selected at that time in step S4 (S8).

[0097] If the correlation calculation program 36 obtains a negative result in this judgment, it returns to step S4, and thereafter, it repeats the process from step S4 to step S8, sequentially switching the parameter selected in step S4 (the second parameter q) to any parameter other than the first parameter p at that time, and to any parameter that has not been processed from step S5 onward.

[0098] Furthermore, the correlation calculation program 36, having completed the processing in steps S4 to S8 for all parameters other than the first parameter p at that time, obtains a positive result in step S6, and then determines in step S3 whether or not all parameters have been selected as the first parameter p (S9).

[0099] If the correlation calculation program 36 obtains a negative result in this judgment, it returns to step S3, and thereafter repeats the process from step S3 to step S9, sequentially switching the parameter selected in step S3 (the first parameter p) to other parameters that have not been processed in step S4 and beyond.

[0100] Then, when the correlation calculation program 36 has finished selecting all the parameters in step S3 and obtained a positive result in step S9, it determines whether or not it has finished executing the processes in steps S3 to S9 for all clusters (S10).

[0101] If the correlation calculation program 36 obtains a negative result in this determination, it returns to step S2, and thereafter repeats the processing from step S2 to step S10, sequentially switching the cluster selected in step S2 to other clusters that have not been processed in step S3 and beyond.

[0102] The correlation calculation program 36 then terminates the correlation calculation process when it has finished executing the processes in steps S2 to S9 for all clusters and obtained a positive result in step S10.

[0103] (3-2) Hydrogen Operation Plan Formulation Process On the other hand, Figure 10 shows the flow of the hydrogen operation plan formulation process that is executed by the hydrogen operation plan formulation program 37 and the optimization program 38 after the completion of the correlation calculation process described above for Figure 8. The hydrogen operation plan formulation program 37 and the optimization program 38 formulate an operation plan for hydrogen and hydrogen carriers for the target day or period (in this case, the next day, and so on) in the target area, following the processing procedure shown in Figure 10.

[0104] In practice, when the hydrogen operation planning program 37 starts the hydrogen operation planning process, it first collects necessary information from external devices such as the power demand / generation forecast information providing device 2 and stores it in the historical information / correlation management table 35 (Figure 7) (S20).

[0105] Specifically, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 calculates the predicted renewable energy generation amount E for each renewable energy power generation facility located within the target area as shown in Figure 11, for each time period, including the present and at least 24 hours prior to the present. Ｇｉ (t) and the predicted power demand E of each power consumer in the target area as shown in Figure 12. Ｄｉ (t) and are obtained from the power demand and power generation forecast information providing device 2, respectively, and these obtained information are stored in the past information and correlation management table 35 (Figure 7).

[0106] Furthermore, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 uses the hydrogen demand forecast values ​​h within the target area, as shown in Figure 13, for each time period, including the present and at least 24 hours prior to the present. Ｄ(t) is obtained from the hydrogen demand forecasting information providing device 3, and the average solar radiation and average temperature of the target area for each time period from the current time to at least 24 hours prior are obtained from the weather information providing server 9, and this obtained information is stored in the past information / correlation management table 35.

[0107] Furthermore, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 determines the amount of hydrogen / hydrogen carrier conversion h in each time period t, both currently and at least 24 hours prior to now. Ｔｉｊ (t) is obtained from the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier production equipment 7 within the target area, and the obtained information is stored in the past information / correlation management table 35.

[0108] Furthermore, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 determines the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers transported h from one point to another within the target area for each time period t, both currently and at least 24 hours prior to the present. Ｃｉｊ (t) is obtained, and this obtained information is stored in the past information / correlation management table 35.

[0109] Next, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 determines the total amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers that can be stored in the target area H for each time period t, including the present and at least 24 hours prior to the present. Ｓｉ (t) and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored h Ｓｉ (t) is obtained (S21).

[0110] In practice, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 obtains the possible storage amount and the amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carrier stored in the corresponding hydrogen tank, hydrogen carrier tank, or hydrogen gas pipeline for each time period t, both currently and up to at least 24 hours prior, from the hydrogen tank control device 4, hydrogen carrier tank control device 6, and hydrogen gas pipeline control device 8 within the target area. The hydrogen operation planning program 37 also obtains the possible storage amount and the amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carrier stored in each transport truck for each time period t, both currently and up to at least 24 hours prior, from the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport truck operation planning device 5.

[0111] Based on the acquired information, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 calculates the possible storage amounts (potential storage amounts of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers) for each time period t, including hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquefied hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia, in the entire target area as shown in Figure 14, for the present and at least 24 hours prior to the present. Ｓｉ (t) is calculated for each. In addition, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 calculates the amount of hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, liquefied hydrogen, MCH, and ammonia accumulated in the entire target area as shown in Figure 15 for each time period, including the present and at least 24 hours prior to the present (hydrogen and hydrogen carrier accumulation h). Ｓｉ (t) is calculated. The hydrogen operation planning program 37 then stores this calculated information in the historical information and correlation management table 35.

[0112] Next, the hydrogen operation planning program 37, with respect to Figure 8, uses the hydrogen demand forecast value h for the current time period t, among the clusters generated by the clustering performed in step S1 of the correlation coefficient calculation process described above. Ｄ (t) Electricity demand forecast value E Ｄｉ (t) and predicted renewable energy generation amount E Ｇｉ (t) and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers that can be stored H Ｓｉ (t) and current hydrogen and hydrogen carrier storage amount h Ｓｉ The dataset consisting of pairs with (t) (hereinafter referred to as the current dataset) extracts the clusters that fit (S22). In typical cases, the best-fitting cluster is extracted, but other selections are also acceptable.

[0113] In practice, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 calculates the distance between the centroid of each cluster generated in step S1 of the correlation coefficient calculation process and the current dataset, and extracts the clusters with the closest distances as the clusters to which the current dataset fits. In a typical example, the cluster with the closest distance is extracted.

[0114] Subsequently, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 calculates the predicted renewable energy generation amount E in the cluster extracted in step S22. Ｇｉ (t) Electricity demand forecast value E Ｄｉ(t), hydrogen demand forecast value h Ｄ (t) Hydrogen and hydrogen carrier storage capacity H Ｓｉ (t), hydrogen and hydrogen carrier storage amount (current) h Ｓｉ (0) Hydrogen and hydrogen carrier storage amount h Ｓｉ (t), hydrogen-to-hydrogen carrier conversion amount h Ｔｉｊ (t) and hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport volume h Ｃｉｊ As a mathematical model of the operating costs of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, applying the correlation coefficients between each parameter of (t), the following control conditions 1 to 7 and the objective function are created (S23).

[0115] Specifically, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 is as follows: As shown above, the predicted value of renewable energy generation within the target area E Ｇｉ The sum of (t) is the predicted power demand value E for the same time period t. Ｄｉ If the sum of (t) is greater than or equal to the predicted renewable energy generation value E Ｇｉ The sum of (t) is the suppression amount E Ｓ (t) only suppress (i.e., the predicted power demand value E in all time periods t of the target day or period) Ｄｉ The predicted renewable energy generation value E should not exceed the sum of (t). Ｇｉ We create a first constraint condition that suppresses the sum of (t).

[0116] Furthermore, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 is as follows: As shown above, the total amount of energy used to convert hydrogen or hydrogen carriers into other hydrogen carriers or hydrogen during all time periods of the target day or period is calculated using the renewable energy generation forecast value E. Ｇｉ (t) Suppression amount E Ｓ (Equal to (t)) (that is, the energy required to convert hydrogen and hydrogen carriers is the predicted renewable energy generation value E) Ｇｉ A second constraint is created: (to be covered only by the surplus of (t)).

[0117] Furthermore, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 is as follows: As described above, a third constraint is created that for all hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, the amount of hydrogen stored at all time intervals t during the target day or period must be less than or equal to the possible amount of hydrogen stored in the target area.

[0118] Furthermore, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 is as follows: As shown above, hydrogen (h) is present in all time periods t of the target date or period. Ｓ０ (t)) amount of hydrogen demand forecast value h Ｄ A fourth constraint is created: (t) or greater.

[0119] Furthermore, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 states that the time required to convert hydrogen or hydrogen carrier "i" to another hydrogen carrier or hydrogen "j" is "k", and the following equation As shown above, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored (hydrogen / hydrogen carrier storage amount h) at all time intervals t of the target day or period. Ｓｉ (t) is the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers accumulated in the previous time period (t-1) (hydrogen / hydrogen carrier accumulation h) Ｓｉ Add the amount of conversion from other hydrogen carriers or hydrogen, and the amount of transportation of other hydrogen carriers or hydrogen to (t-1) to obtain the hydrogen demand forecast value h Ｄ We create a fifth constraint condition such that (t) holds.

[0120] Furthermore, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 is as follows: As shown above, for all time periods t and all hydrogen and hydrogen carriers of the target day or period, the amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carrier converted per unit time to other hydrogen carriers or hydrogen is the convertible upper limit P. Ｕｉｊ A sixth constraint is created, which is as follows:

[0121] Furthermore, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 uses the following equation, where α and β are constants: As shown above, a seventh constraint is created, which is that the distance between all parameters must be less than or equal to a predetermined constant for all time periods t within the target day or period. Note that α and β are typically given values ​​such as "1.0".

[0122] Furthermore, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 uses the following formula to represent the total operating costs of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers for the target date or period (total of total hydrogen and hydrogen carrier conversion, total storage amount, and total transportation costs). This is created as the objective function of the optimization problem.

[0123] Next, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 calls the optimization program 38. The called optimization program 38 then minimizes the operating costs of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, expressed in equation (8), while adhering to the first to seventh constraints (see equations (1) to (7)) created by the hydrogen operation planning program 37 in step S13, by determining each decision variable (hydrogen carrier storage amount h) Ｓｉ (t), hydrogen carrier conversion amount h Ｔｉｊ (t) and hydrogen carrier transport volume h Ｃｉｊ A mathematical optimization calculation is performed to find the value of (t) (S24).

[0124] In practice, the hydrogen operation planning program 37 uses the latest weather information (including weather forecast information), renewable energy generation forecasts, electricity demand forecasts, hydrogen demand forecasts, hydrogen and hydrogen carrier storage capacity, and hydrogen and hydrogen carrier storage capacity stored in the historical information and correlation management table 35 to sequentially perform mathematical optimization calculations to find each decision variable that minimizes equation (8) for each hourly time period t of the day or period.

[0125] Next, the hydrogen operation plan planning program 37 generates a hydrogen operation plan screen 40, which will be described later, with respect to Figure 16, which contains the hydrogen operation plan for each time period t of the target day or period planned by the optimization program 38 in step S24, and displays the generated hydrogen operation plan screen 40 on the display device 25 (S25).

[0126] Furthermore, the hydrogen operation plan planning program 37 then waits for the hydrogen operation plan displayed on the hydrogen operation plan screen 40 to be approved or rejected. When the input device 24 (Figure 1) is operated and an operation is made to approve or reject the hydrogen operation plan, the hydrogen operation plan planning program 37 determines whether the content is an approval or rejection of the hydrogen operation plan (S26).

[0127] If the hydrogen operation plan formulation program 37 obtains a negative result in step S26, it waits for the user to revise the formulated hydrogen operation plan (S27). Once the user has finished revising the hydrogen operation plan, the hydrogen operation plan formulation program 37 returns to step S25, and then repeats the process from step S25 to step S27 until it obtains a positive result in step S26.

[0128] Then, if the hydrogen operation plan planning program 37 obtains a positive result in the judgment of step S26, it controls the hydrogen tank control device 4, hydrogen carrier tank control device 6, hydrogen / hydrogen carrier production device 7 and / or hydrogen gas pipeline control device 8 to produce or release hydrogen or hydrogen carriers in accordance with the created hydrogen operation plan, or instructs the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport truck operation plan planning device 5 to change the operation plan of trucks transporting hydrogen or hydrogen carriers as necessary (S28).

[0129] Then, the hydrogen operation plan formulation program 37 completes a series of control processes in accordance with the formulated hydrogen operation plan, and then terminates the hydrogen operation plan formulation process.

[0130] (4) Hydrogen Operation Plan Screen Figure 16 shows an example of the screen configuration of the hydrogen operation plan screen 40 that is displayed on the display device 25 (Figure 1) in step S25 of the hydrogen operation plan formulation process described above with respect to Figure 10. As shown in Figure 16, a hydrogen operation plan display area 41 is provided in the center of the hydrogen operation plan screen 40, and the hydrogen operation plan for each time period of the target date or period that has been formulated at that time is displayed in chronological order within this hydrogen operation plan display area 41.

[0131] For example, in the case of Figure 16, referring to Figures 11 and 12, the predicted amount of power generated in the one-hour period starting at "12:00" is "200," and it is predicted that "120" of that will be used, so the predicted surplus power for this period is "80." In this hydrogen operation plan, this "80" will be absorbed by producing hydrogen and ammonia. Specifically, hydrogen will be produced with "40," which is half of the surplus power ("electricity → hydrogen"), and ammonia will be produced with the remaining half of the surplus power, which is "40" ("electricity → ammonia"). In addition, the hydrogen demand during this period will be met by releasing "80" of hydrogen from the hydrogen tank ("hydrogen release"), while "40" of ammonia will be released from the ammonia tank in preparation for the ammonia-to-hydrogen conversion to be carried out in the period starting at "13:00" ("ammonia release").

[0132] Referring to Figures 11 and 12, the predicted power generation for the one-hour period starting at "13:00" is "250," of which "90" is expected to be allocated to electricity demand, resulting in a predicted surplus of "160" during this period. Therefore, in this hydrogen operation plan, this "160" will be absorbed by producing hydrogen and ammonia ("electricity → hydrogen" and "electricity → ammonia"). Furthermore, the hydrogen demand of "80" during the period starting at "13:00" will be met by utilizing the "40" of hydrogen produced during the period starting at "12:00," as well as by releasing "40" of hydrogen from the hydrogen tank ("hydrogen release"). In addition, to prepare for the predicted power shortage during the period starting at "14:00," "80" of ammonia will be converted into "80" of hydrogen ("ammonia → hydrogen"). Furthermore, the raw materials consist of 40 units of ammonia generated during the time period starting at 12:00, and 40 units of ammonia released from the ammonia tank during the same time period starting at 12:00.

[0133] Furthermore, referring to Figures 11 and 12, the predicted power generation for the one-hour period starting at "14:00" is "150," but the predicted power demand for that period is "190," resulting in a predicted power shortage of "40." Therefore, in this hydrogen operation plan, electricity will be generated using hydrogen produced from ammonia during the period starting at "13:00" ("hydrogen → electricity").

[0134] The hydrogen operation plan displayed in the hydrogen operation plan display section 41 can be modified by the user by performing a predetermined operation on the input device 24 (Figure 1) (see step S27 in Figure 10).

[0135] Then, on the hydrogen operation plan screen 40, after modifying the hydrogen operation plan displayed in the hydrogen operation plan display area 41 as needed, the user can approve the hydrogen operation plan displayed in the hydrogen operation plan display area 41 by clicking the OK button 42 displayed in the lower right corner of the hydrogen operation plan display area 41.

[0136] In this case, as described above for step S28 in Figure 10, the hydrogen operation plan planning device 11 controls the hydrogen tank control device 4, hydrogen carrier tank control device 6, hydrogen / hydrogen carrier production device 7 and / or hydrogen gas pipeline control device 8 as needed, according to the hydrogen operation plan displayed in the hydrogen operation plan display field 41 at that time, and instructs the hydrogen / hydrogen carrier transport truck operation plan planning device 5 to change the truck operation plan as needed.

[0137] (5) Effects of this embodiment As described above, the hydrogen operation planning device 11 of this embodiment calculates the correlation between eight types of parameters for each time period in the target area, using past data: predicted renewable energy generation amount, predicted electricity demand, predicted hydrogen demand, available storage capacity of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, stored amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, conversion amount between hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, and transport amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers. The hydrogen operation planning device 11 also creates a mathematical model of the operation costs of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers using the correlation between the calculated parameters.

[0138] The hydrogen operation planning device 11 then uses the correlation between these calculated parameters and the created mathematical model to plan hydrogen operations for each time period of the target day or period so as to minimize the total cost of hydrogen and hydrogen carrier storage, electricity, conversion between hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, and transportation of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers.

[0139] Therefore, the hydrogen operation planning device 11 can optimize the hydrogen operation plan from a system perspective by formulating a hydrogen operation plan that includes not only production but also storage and transportation plans. Furthermore, by considering hydrogen storage and transportation, the uncertainty of hydrogen demand can be leveled by the amount of hydrogen stored, and robust optimization can be performed by using the correlation of information that includes uncertainties such as renewable energy generation amount, electricity demand and hydrogen demand. Thus, the hydrogen operation planning device 11 can formulate an overall optimal hydrogen operation plan.

[0140] (6) Other Embodiments In the embodiments described above, we have described a case in which information such as the storage cost and storage energy of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, and the conversion cost, conversion energy and conversion time are managed as fixed values ​​(see Figures 2 to 6). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and in cases where the storage and conversion cost and storage and conversion energy change depending on the state of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, such as the relationship between the pressure of compressed hydrogen and the conversion cost, these may be managed in a divisional line format, which represents fixed values ​​for several divisions as shown by dashed lines in Figure 17, or in a polynomial format, which represents solid lines in Figure 17. In this case as well, the optimization program 38 is composed of a semidefinite programming (SDP) solver, and the solution to the optimization problem consisting of the mathematical model of equations (1) to (8) can be obtained by the interior point method.

[0141] Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment described a case in which the hydrogen operation planning device 11 of this embodiment is configured with a single computer device, the present invention is not limited to this, and the hydrogen operation planning device 11 may be configured with a distributed computing system composed of multiple computer devices.

[0142] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, we have described a case in which the hydrogen operation planning program 37 creates the first to seventh constraints described above as a mathematical model for Figure 9. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the hydrogen operation planning program 37 may create other constraints instead of the first to seventh constraints.

[0143] This invention can be widely applied to hydrogen operation planning devices of various configurations that formulate hydrogen operation plans, which include production and conversion plans for hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be converted into electricity and used as needed.

[0144] 1...Hydrogen operation planning system, 2...Electricity demand and power generation forecast information provision device, 3...Hydrogen demand forecast information provision device, 4...Hydrogen tank control device, 5...Hydrogen and hydrogen carrier transport truck operation planning device, 6...Hydrogen carrier tank control device, 7...Hydrogen and hydrogen carrier production device, 8...Hydrogen gas pipeline control device, 9...Weather information server, 11...Hydrogen operation planning device, 20...CPU, 25...Display device, 30...Storage cost and storage energy management table, 31...Hydrogen and hydrogen carrier conversion cost management table, 32...Hydrogen and hydrogen carrier conversion energy management table, 33...Hydrogen and hydrogen carrier conversion time management table, 34...Hydrogen and hydrogen carrier conversion limit management table, 35...Past information and correlation management table, 36...Correlation calculation program, 37...Hydrogen operation planning program, 38...Optimization program, 40...Hydrogen operation plan screen.

Claims

1. A hydrogen operation planning device that plans the production, conversion, and transportation of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be converted into electricity as needed, comprising: a memory for storing a program; and a processor for executing the program stored in the memory, wherein the processor calculates the correlation between each parameter of predicted renewable energy generation amount, predicted electricity demand amount, predicted hydrogen demand amount, hydrogen and hydrogen carrier storage amount, hydrogen and hydrogen carrier conversion amount, and hydrogen and hydrogen carrier transportation amount for each predetermined time period in the past within the target area using past data; and creates a mathematical model of the operation costs of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers using the calculated correlation between each of the parameters. A hydrogen operation planning device characterized by formulating a hydrogen and hydrogen carrier production, conversion, and transportation plan for each time period of a target day or period, by using the predicted values ​​of renewable energy generation, electricity demand, and hydrogen demand for each time period of a target day or period, the current amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored in the target area, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be transported planned for the target day or period, and the mathematical model, to determine the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be stored to reduce the operating costs of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be converted between hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be transported for each time period of a target day or period.

2. The hydrogen operation planning device further comprises a display device for displaying information, and the processor displays the planned hydrogen and hydrogen carrier production, conversion and transportation plans on the display device, as described in claim 1.

3. The hydrogen operation planning device according to claim 1, characterized in that the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored includes the amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carriers stored in each facility or vehicle, including tanks, pipelines, and transport vehicles, that are capable of storing hydrogen or hydrogen carriers within the target area.

4. The hydrogen operation planning device according to claim 1, characterized in that the processor clusters the past data, calculates the correlation coefficients between each parameter for each of the past time periods, such as the predicted value of renewable energy generation, the predicted value of electricity demand, the predicted value of hydrogen demand, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers converted to each other, and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers transported, as the correlation relationship between each of the parameters for each of the past time periods for each of the clusters to which the current situation is suitable, and creates the mathematical model by applying the correlation coefficients between each of the parameters for each of the past time periods, such as the predicted value of renewable energy generation, the predicted value of electricity demand, the predicted value of hydrogen demand, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers converted to each other, and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers transported, calculated for the cluster to which the current situation is suitable.

5. The hydrogen operation planning device according to claim 1, wherein the mathematical model comprises an objective function representing the operating costs of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, constraints that impose limitations on determining the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be stored, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be converted between each other, and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be transported, based on the objective function, and the processor formulates a plan for the production, conversion, and transport of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers by determining the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be stored, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be converted between each other, and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be transported for each time period of the day or period that minimizes the objective function.

6. The hydrogen operation planning device according to claim 1, characterized in that the processor controls necessary external devices to operate hydrogen and hydrogen carriers in accordance with the hydrogen operation plan that has been created.

7. A hydrogen operation planning method executed by a hydrogen operation planning device that plans the production, conversion, and transportation of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be converted into electricity as needed, the method comprising: a first step of calculating the correlation between each parameter of the past for each predetermined time period within a target area, such as predicted renewable energy generation amount, predicted electricity demand amount, predicted hydrogen demand amount, hydrogen and hydrogen carrier storage amount, hydrogen and hydrogen carrier conversion amount, and hydrogen and hydrogen carrier transportation amount, using past data; and a second step of creating a mathematical model of the operation costs of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers using the calculated correlation between each of the parameters. A hydrogen operation planning method comprising a third step of formulating a hydrogen and hydrogen carrier production, conversion and transportation plan, by using the following: predicted values ​​of renewable energy generation, predicted values ​​of electricity demand and predicted values ​​of hydrogen demand for each time period of the target day or period; the current amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored in the target area and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers transported planned for the target day or period; and the mathematical model, to determine the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored to reduce the operating costs of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers converted between each other, and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers transported for each time period of the target day or period.

8. The hydrogen operation plan planning method according to claim 7, further comprising a fourth step of displaying the planned hydrogen and hydrogen carrier production, conversion and transportation plan on a display device.

9. The hydrogen operation planning method according to claim 7, characterized in that the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored includes the amount of hydrogen or hydrogen carriers stored in each facility or vehicle, including tanks, pipelines, and transport vehicles, that are capable of storing hydrogen or hydrogen carriers within the target area.

10. The hydrogen operation planning method according to claim 7, characterized in that, in the first step, the hydrogen operation planning device clusters the past data and calculates for each cluster the correlation coefficients between the parameters of the past renewable energy generation amount, the electricity demand amount, the hydrogen demand amount, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers converted to each other, and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers transported for each of the past time periods, and in the second step, the hydrogen operation planning device creates a mathematical model by applying the correlation coefficients between the parameters of the past renewable energy generation amount, the electricity demand amount, the hydrogen demand amount, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers stored, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers converted to each other, and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers transported, calculated for the clusters to which the current situation is suitable.

11. The hydrogen operation planning method according to claim 7, wherein the mathematical model comprises an objective function representing the operating costs of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, constraints that impose limitations on determining the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be stored, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be converted between each other, and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be transported, based on the objective function, and in the third step, the hydrogen operation planning device plans the production, conversion and transport plan of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers by determining the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be stored, the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be converted between each other, and the amount of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers to be transported for each time period of the day or period concerned.

12. The hydrogen operation planning method according to claim 7, further comprising a fourth step of controlling necessary external equipment so that the hydrogen operation planning device operates hydrogen and hydrogen carriers in accordance with the hydrogen operation plan it has created.

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