Abstract: Considering the serious situation of power curtailment by hydropower stations in China, this study examines the optimization of hydrogen production systems for utilizing energy curtailment at run-of-river hydropower stations of little reservoir regulation capacity. We develop a method for calculating the curtailment using the inflow hydrograph of a reservoir and the operation characteristics of its generating units, and constructs complete integrated operation control strategies and a capacity allocation optimization model for comprehensive consideration of production, storage and transport of water energy. And sensitivity analysis on the relationship of the annual average hydrogen production and hydrogen market price versus the economic benefit of the system is carried out. Example calculations of the Shaping Ⅱ hydropower station in Sichuan show that when the transport distance of liquid hydrogen is 500 km and the hydrogen unit price is 3.5 yuan/Nm3, the curtailment utilization rate via a hydrogen production system of optimal capacity configuration in 2019 is 70.54%, bringing about a hydrogen production of 20.9 million Nm3 and a net present value of the whole life cycle of 199 million yuan. This study demonstrates a hydrogen production system could be a new approach to power curtailment problems, clean energy power utilization, and promotion of the hydrogen economy in China.

Key words: run-of-river hydropower station, energy utilization, hydrogen production system, operation control, capacity allocation