A comparative evaluation of alternative optimization strategies for a novel heliostat-driven hydrogen production/injection system coupled with a vanadium chlorine cycle

•A hybrid system with a novel greenhouse gas emission mitigation method is introduced.•Three multi-objective optimization algorithms combined with an artificial neural network are applied.•The feasibility of the system is studied under the optimal operating condition for Sevilla.•The multi-objective grey wolf algorithm outperforms any other competing optimization methods.•A considerably lower annual carbon dioxide emission and product energy cost is achieved.