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Techno-Economic Optimization of an Integrated Renewable-Hydrogen-Data Center Hub for Yanbu Industrial City in Saudi Arabia.

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Title: Techno-Economic Optimization of an Integrated Renewable-Hydrogen-Data Center Hub for Yanbu Industrial City in Saudi Arabia.
Authors: Alturki, Abdulaziz A.1,2 (AUTHOR)
Source: Energies (19961073). Mar2026, Vol. 19 Issue 6, p1482. 28p.
Subject Terms: *Hydrogen production, *Server farms (Computer network management), *Multi-objective optimization, *Industrial districts, *Heat recovery, *Renewable energy sources, *Storage batteries
Geographic Terms: Saudi Arabia
Abstract: Global data center electricity demand is projected to double to 945 TWh by 2030, yet no optimization framework jointly sizes renewable generation, battery storage, hydrogen export infrastructure, and flexible computing loads within a single industrial hub. This paper develops a two-layer techno-economic workflow for an integrated renewable–hydrogen–data center hub in Yanbu Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. HOMER Pro provides baseline capacity sizing and dispatch across four scenarios; a Pyomo-based mixed-integer linear program, calibrated to within 2% of the baseline, then extends the system to include a 60 MW data center (30 MW critical, 30 MW flexible), multi-sink hydrogen allocation (domestic, ammonia, methanol), and low-grade waste heat recovery. Battery storage emerges as the dominant cost–carbon lever: its removal raises the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) from 0.052 to 0.181 USD/kWh (+250%) and increases CO2 emissions from 1.83 to 2763 kt/yr, a factor of 1510. The Integrated Hub reduces annualized costs by 8.2% (36.9 M USD/yr) and emissions by 28% relative to a separate-build counterfactual, driven by shared PV–battery infrastructure and hydrogen export revenues of 58.5 M USD/yr. Export demand raises the electrolyzer capacity factor from 8.65% to 24.3%, cutting the levelized cost of hydrogen from 10.5 to 6.8 USD/kg. Waste heat recovery reduces the levelized cost of heat by 17%, and co-location lowers the levelized cost of compute by 23% (from 0.055 to 0.042 USD/GPU/hr). These results provide quantitative design principles for industrial hub planners considering data center co-location in high-solar regions with hydrogen export ambitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Database: Energy & Power Source
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Header DbId: enr
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An: 192592656
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PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
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  Data: Techno-Economic Optimization of an Integrated Renewable-Hydrogen-Data Center Hub for Yanbu Industrial City in Saudi Arabia.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Energies+%2819961073%29%22">Energies (19961073)</searchLink>. Mar2026, Vol. 19 Issue 6, p1482. 28p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hydrogen+production%22">Hydrogen production</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Server+farms+%28Computer+network+management%29%22">Server farms (Computer network management)</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Multi-objective+optimization%22">Multi-objective optimization</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Industrial+districts%22">Industrial districts</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Heat+recovery%22">Heat recovery</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Renewable+energy+sources%22">Renewable energy sources</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Storage+batteries%22">Storage batteries</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Saudi+Arabia%22">Saudi Arabia</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Global data center electricity demand is projected to double to 945 TWh by 2030, yet no optimization framework jointly sizes renewable generation, battery storage, hydrogen export infrastructure, and flexible computing loads within a single industrial hub. This paper develops a two-layer techno-economic workflow for an integrated renewable–hydrogen–data center hub in Yanbu Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. HOMER Pro provides baseline capacity sizing and dispatch across four scenarios; a Pyomo-based mixed-integer linear program, calibrated to within 2% of the baseline, then extends the system to include a 60 MW data center (30 MW critical, 30 MW flexible), multi-sink hydrogen allocation (domestic, ammonia, methanol), and low-grade waste heat recovery. Battery storage emerges as the dominant cost–carbon lever: its removal raises the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) from 0.052 to 0.181 USD/kWh (+250%) and increases CO2 emissions from 1.83 to 2763 kt/yr, a factor of 1510. The Integrated Hub reduces annualized costs by 8.2% (36.9 M USD/yr) and emissions by 28% relative to a separate-build counterfactual, driven by shared PV–battery infrastructure and hydrogen export revenues of 58.5 M USD/yr. Export demand raises the electrolyzer capacity factor from 8.65% to 24.3%, cutting the levelized cost of hydrogen from 10.5 to 6.8 USD/kg. Waste heat recovery reduces the levelized cost of heat by 17%, and co-location lowers the levelized cost of compute by 23% (from 0.055 to 0.042 USD/GPU/hr). These results provide quantitative design principles for industrial hub planners considering data center co-location in high-solar regions with hydrogen export ambitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=enr&AN=192592656
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        Value: 10.3390/en19061482
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 28
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      – SubjectFull: Hydrogen production
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Server farms (Computer network management)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Multi-objective optimization
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Industrial districts
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Heat recovery
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Renewable energy sources
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Storage batteries
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Saudi Arabia
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Techno-Economic Optimization of an Integrated Renewable-Hydrogen-Data Center Hub for Yanbu Industrial City in Saudi Arabia.
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              M: 03
              Text: Mar2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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            – TitleFull: Energies (19961073)
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