Optimization Design of Nonstop Power Exchange System for Hydrogen Energy Trains

Hydrogen has been advocated as a promising energy carrier for railway systems, but its limited energy density may introduce mileage anxiety into the transportation system. Motivated by nonstop power exchange design, this article proposes a novel facility planning model under energy transfer conditions and natural endowments, such as photovoltaic resources in geographical locations, to optimize the overall system benefit. The supply, consumption, and replenishment mechanisms of multienergy forms (hydrogen energy, photovoltaic, electric energy) are designed on both vehicle and ground sides of the power exchange system. The optimal facility location and allocation of photovoltaic hydrogen plants, movable tank shifting devices, and train cars are collaboratively decided. A Lhasa–Xining railway case study is applied by conducting sensitivity analyses on significant parameters. Various insights hold the promise to promote policies and strategies for integrating transportation and power systems in a real-world application. It is demonstrated that energy cost reduction, solar power generation improvement, and energy-carrier capacity expansion help solve the mileage anxiety problem in nonstop power exchange systems.