Abstract There are rural areas in Ghana which are off-grid but where there is a need for street lighting. Street lighting facilities in such areas typically store electrical power in lead-acid batteries. The goal of this thesis is to construct a facility where fuel cells and hydrogen accumulation replace lead-acid batteries. The construction consists of a solar cell which transmits DC power to an electrolyzer which in turn produces hydrogen and oxygen. The gases accumulate in the container until nightfall when it starts providing DC power to street lighting via a fuel cell. The street lights can operate between 5 - 10 hours per day, depending on the power of the lamp. Besides providing street lighting the device may also be used for other purposes such as indoor lighting, charging of mobile phones etc. This means that, in addition to the basic purpose of providing electrical power to the street lights, other co-benefits of social significance can be achieved. The device is designed not to create any harmful emissions during operation, thus being environmentally sustainable. Further research on the device may in a second step entail: Construction of a prototype on a smaller scale, where calculations and function are tested. If it turns out well, a third step can begin: To build a full scale plant to be tested on site in Ghana.

Sweden has goals to reach net-zero emissions by 2045. Although electricity sector is almost fossil free, industry & transport still rely on fossil fuels. Ambitious initiatives such as HYBRIT, growth of EV market & expansion of wind power aim to expedite emission reduction. Decarbonization of transport, industry and large-scale wind & solar PV integration in the future necessitates studying energy system of Sweden at national scale in the context of sector coupling, external transmission & storage technologies. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the impact of thermal energy storage, hydrogen storage and batteries via Power-to-heat & Power-to-hydrogen strategies in the future Swedish energy system (2045) with high proportions of wind power. Two scenarios SWE_2045 & NFF_2045 were formulated to represent two distinct energy systems of the future. The SWE_2045 energy system still relies on fossil fuels, but to a lower extent compared to 2019 level and has increased levels of electrification and biofuels in the transport and industrial sectors. In comparison, the fossil fuels are completely removed in NFF_2045 and the industrial sector has significant demand for electrolytic hydrogen. Both the scenarios were simulated using EnergyPLAN, a deterministic energy system model, under each storage technology. The results indicate that HPs coupled with TES has the potential to increase wind integration from 29.12% to 31.8% in SWE_2045 and 26.78% to 29.17% in NFF_2045. HP & TES also reduces heat production from boilers by 67% to 72% depending on the scenario, leading to overall reduction in total fuel and annual costs by at least 2.5% and 0.5% respectively. However, for wind integration of 31.1% in SWE_2045 the annual cost increases by 5.1% with hydrogen storage compared to TES. However, hydrogen storage shows better performance in NFF_2045, wherein the wind integration increases from 26.78% to 29.3%. Furthermore, increasing hydrogen storage for a lower wind capacity (60 GW) in NFF_2045 reduces both electricity import and export while simultaneously increasing the contribution of storage in fulfilling the hydrogen demand from 1.62% to 6.2%. Compared to TES and HS, the contribution of battery storage is minimal in sector integration. For increase in wind integration of 28% to 29%, the annual cost of a system with battery storage is 1.3% to 2% higher than that of the system with TES and hydrogen storage respectively. Therefore, HPs coupled with TES can improve flexibility in both scenarios. Hydrogen storage is not a promising option if the end goal is only to store excess electricity, as shown by the results in SWE_2045. However, it demonstrates better utilization in terms of wind integration, reduction in electricity import and export when there is a considerable demand for hydrogen, as in the case of NFF_2045. / Sverige ligger i framkant när det gäller avkarbonisering och har mål att nå nettonollutsläpp till 2045. Även om elsektorn är nästan fossilfri, är industri och transport fortfarande beroende av fossila bränslen. Ambitiösa initiativ som Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology (HYBRIT), tillväxt av elbilsmarknaden och expansion av vindkraft syftar till att påskynda utsläppsminskningar. Dekarbonisering av transport, industri och storskalig vind- och solcellsintegrering i framtiden kräver att man studerar Sveriges energisystem i nationell skala i samband med sektorskoppling, extern transmissions- och lagringsteknik.  Därför syftar denna studie till att bestämma effekten av termisk energilagring, vätelagring och batterier via Power-to-heat & Power-to-hydrogen-strategier i det framtida svenska energisystemet (2045) med höga andelar vindkraft. Två scenarier SWE_2045 & NFF_2045 formulerades för att representera två distinkta framtidens energisystem. Energisystemet SWE_2045 är fortfarande beroende av fossila bränslen, men i lägre utsträckning jämfört med 2019 års nivå och har ökat nivåerna av elektrifiering och biobränslen inom transport- och industrisektorn. Som jämförelse är de fossila bränslena helt borttagna i NFF_2045-scenariot där transportsektorn endast är beroende av el och biobränslen, medan industrisektorn har en betydande efterfrågan på elektrolytiskt väte. Båda energisystemen simuleras med EnergyPLAN, en deterministisk energisystemmodell, för olika testfall under varje lagringsteknik. Resultatet av simuleringen bedömdes i termer av kritisk överskottselproduktion, potential för ytterligare vindintegration, total bränslebalans i systemet och årliga kostnader.  Resultatet indikerar att värmepumpar i kombination med termisk energilagring kan förbättra flexibiliteten i båda scenarierna genom att minska den kritiska överskottselproduktionen och bränsleförbrukningen samtidigt som vindintegrationen förbättras. Vätgaslagring är inget lovande alternativ om målet är att endast lagra överskottsel, vilket framgår av vindintegrationsnivåerna i SWE_2045. Det förbättrar dock vindintegration och tillförlitlighet avsevärt när det finns en betydande efterfrågan på vätgas i NFF_2045. Som jämförelse är batteriernas bidrag till vindintegration minimalt i båda scenarierna i samband med sektorintegration på grund av utnyttjandet av överskottsel av värmepumpar och extern överföring av restel. Valet av lagringsteknik i framtiden beror dock på dess tekniska ekonomiska utveckling och energipolitik.