Cost Minimization Approach Through Optimal Siting and Sizing of Hydrogen Refueling Stations by Leveraging Existing Infrastructure

Hydrogen Refueling Stations (HRS) are essential components in the transition to a net-zero emission society, especially to support the mass adoption of hydrogen vehicles. However, establishing HRS network to satisfy future demand for hydrogen requires substantial investment. One strategy to achieve efficient investment is to leverage the existing infrastructure, such as existing fuel stations, adjusted to serve as HRS. However, the huge number of current fuel stations poses a complexity in determining the optimal number of required HRS. Furthermore, given the projection of future hydrogen demand for vehicles, the sizing of HRS in each location is also difficult. Therefore, this research presents a cost-minimization model for determining the optimal number of sites and size of HRS at each site that minimizes the total cost of investment and distribution. The model was developed based on a case study in Jakarta, Indonesia, with potential sites for HRS identified based on the existing network of existing fuel stations, which consist of public electric vehicle charging stations and gas stations (SPKLU and SPBU). Two sizes of HRS capacities—small (500 kg) and medium (1000 kg)—are considered, whereas small HRS is preferable to accelerate the hydrogen ecosystem growth in transportation sector. This paper identifies HRS clusters based on their proximity, estimates the proportion of hydrogen demand within each cluster, and determines the optimum number of sites and size of HRS within each cluster. The results indicate that the demand can be effectively covered by three distinct clusters to serve consecutively 81%, 10%, and 9% of hydrogen demand. The optimal site numbers of HRS that will minimize the total cost in each cluster are 188, 23, and 22 locations, consists of combined size of small and medium capacity of HRS.