The availability of cost-effective and environmentally friendly electricity to the entire population is a prime concern of the South African government. It has brought attention to microgrid projects, especially when rural population is considered properly. To address the energy needs of any country, the focus line should be the cost and availability of local resources. Due to the abundance of coal reserves and lack of alternative resources, coal dependence cannot be overlooked in the near future. This paper focuses not only on microgrid needs in South Africa but also on the possible use of hydrogen extracted from coal as a fuel in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) in microgrids. The complete assembly of PEMFC and its use in the microgrid are discussed. To make the H₂ extraction process eco-friendly and hence worth considering, Carbon capture and sequestration process is discoursed. Furthermore, cost benefit analysis and the long term benefit of the use of PEMFC in microgrids with coal-based hydrogen production are presented in this research.

南非人民最关心的是向全体民众提供经济高效且环保的电力。它引起了对微电网项目的关注，特别是在适当考虑了农村人口的情况下。为了满足任何国家的能源需求，重点应放在当地资源的成本和可获得性上。由于煤炭储量丰富和缺乏替代资源，在不久的将来不能忽视对煤炭的依赖。本文不仅关注南非的微电网需求，而且关注微电网中质子交换膜燃料电池（PEMFC）中从煤中提取的氢作为燃料的可能用途。讨论了PEMFC的完整组装及其在微电网中的应用。使H ₂提取过程生态友好，因此值得考虑，这里讨论了碳捕获和封存过程。此外，本研究还介绍了成本效益分析以及在煤制氢生产的微电网中使用PEMFC的长期效益。