A review on energy hubs: Models, methods, classification, applications, and future trends

Increasing environmental concerns, scarcity of fossil fuel resources, and uncontrolled demand growth have led to upgrading and restructuring existing energy systems. Sustainable multi-energy systems (MESs) will dominate energy production in the future. Integrated management systems must be provided to plan and control the sustainable MESs for optimal operation. Energy hubs (EHs) represent one of the most promising concepts for optimal management systems in sustainable MESs. They can play a great role in moving towards sustainable MES models. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the concepts of EHs and their applications, also benefits gained from the integration of different energies. In addition, the paper discusses the effect of other related options like renewable energy resources, MESs, demand-side management, and energy storage systems. Finally, the paper presents the most common research areas, methods of solving the EHs' associated problems, presents real applications of EHs and explores the future challenges that face the EHs.