The Role of Hydrogen-based Local Energy Communities in the Development of Hydrogen Cities: A Systematic Review

Hydrogen-based Local Energy Communities (LECs) play a pivotal role in modern energy systems and form the fundamental building blocks of hydrogen cities. This review provides a comprehensive assessment of how hydrogen-based LECs advance the hydrogen city concept by examining the technological, economic, environmental, regulatory, and social dimensions that shape the integration of green hydrogen into local energy networks. The paper explores the structure of hydrogen cities, focusing on the role of multiple LECs in alignment with the European Union’s Clean Energy Package (CEP). Furthermore, a case study and mathematical model are presented, where the hydrogen city is modelled and the impact of Electric Parking Lot (EPL) and Hydrogen Parking Lot (HPL) management on the hydrogen city’s operation cost is evaluated. The results show that optimised EPL and HPL management can reduce overall operational costs by 5.53 %, demonstrating the economic advantages of intelligent scheduling strategies in hydrogen cities.