Autonomous renewable-hydrogen microgrids for Arctic communities
A newly funded Emirates Polar Program project developing autonomous, low-carbon energy systems for remote Arctic communities and polar research infrastructure.
Scope
This Emirates Polar Program technical-services project addresses reliable, autonomous, low-carbon energy for remote Arctic communities and polar research infrastructure, where diesel supply chains are costly, emissions-intensive, and operationally vulnerable. Snowflake International Arctic Station and comparable off-grid communities provide reference cases for the engineering work.
Objective
The project will provide the analytical and control-engineering layer needed before field deployment: requirements and system architecture, component sizing, an integrated electrical-hydrogen-thermal digital twin, model-predictive and fault-tolerant supervisory control, health-aware diagnostics, scenario and X-in-the-loop-ready validation, resilience assessment, and techno-economic and environmental screening under polar constraints.
My contribution
Dr Muhammad Abdelghany serves as Co-Principal Investigator with Principal Investigator Prof Ahmed Al-Durra and Co-Principal Investigator Prof Samuel Mao. The KU team works with Dr T. Bostrom and Dr J.-G. Winther of UiT The Arctic University of Norway and strategic Arctic partners; the Co-PI role contributes to scientific direction, supervision, quality assurance, and hydrogen-system and control review.
Project record
Selected for external research funding through the Emirates Polar Program in August 2026, the five-task programme covers requirements and architecture, digital-twin development and sizing, autonomous control and hydrogen safety, diagnostics and validation, and deployment readiness. Planned outputs include a requirements dossier, a validated model library, supervisory energy-management and fault-management logic, TEA/LCA screening, operating guidance, and a transferable roadmap, supported by one postdoctoral fellow and one PhD researcher.
