The Race To Develop Hydrogen Storage
- Energy companies around the world are racing to develop hydrogen storage, believing that it will help to reduce dependence on natural gas and boost energy security.
- The Department of Energy has identified some regions in the U.S. that it believes will be most suitable for cavern storage development.
- There are also hydrogen storage projects underway in the UK and the EU, both of which are desperately looking for alternatives to Russian natural gas.
Around the globe, energy companies and governments are racing to develop their hydrogen storage capacity in an attempt to boost their energy security and reduce their reliance on natural gas. As investment into the research and development of hydrogen technologies increases, several world powers are developing better storage solutions to support the rollout of hydrogen for a multitude of uses. Boosting storage capacity will allow countries to produce and store hydrogen for use much in the same way as natural gas.
As part of its National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) discusses the potential for increasing hydrogen storage. It considers the alternative approaches to hydrogen storage to decide on the optimal option for long-term storage. Hydrogen can be kept in a number of different ways, either in gaseous or liquid vessels, in underground formations, or in materials such as hydrogen carriers. Depending on how the hydrogen will be used, each of these options can be appropriate.
There are already commercial tanks and liquid dewars being used in the U.S., mainly on energy sites and fuelling stations. As huge quantities of liquid hydrogen are used in aerospace, the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is home to a storage vessel for 1.25 million gallons of liquid hydrogen. Underground caverns are also used to store hydrogen for use in the petrochemical industry, with three large-scale geological hydrogen storage caverns in the U.S. at present. Most of these caverns are excavated in salt deposits near areas intended for hydrogen use. The DoE roadmap identifies some of the regions in the U.S. most suitable for greater cavern storage development, both for hydrogen and for carbon from carbon capture and storage (CCS) operations.
The DoE highlights hydrogen storage as key for the advancement of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies for stationary power, portable power, and transportation. Due to its low ambient temperature density hydrogen has a low energy per unit volume, and it requires specialist forms of storage. Tanks used to keep hydrogen gas must sustain a high pressure of between 350–700 bars. And liquid hydrogen needs to be stored at cryogenic temperatures, as it has a boiling point of −252.8°C. The U.S. Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) aims to develop hydrogen storage options to meet the DoE hydrogen storage targets for onboard light-duty vehicles, material-handling equipment, and portable power applications.
In the U.K., the energy company SSE started work this month on the excavation of an underground cavern in east Yorkshire to store hydrogen for use when urgently needed. The project includes a 35-megawatt electrolyzer to produce green hydrogen that will be stored in the giant cavern. The hydrogen can be used to fire a turbine to supply power to the grid during times of peak demand. SSE hopes the Pathfinder project, which is expected to cost over $120 million, will offer a blueprint for larger-scale hydrogen storage projects in the future. It expects the project to be operational by 2025. Siemens Energy will be carrying out the project’s design and engineering work. SSE has even bigger long-term plans, having partnered with Norwegian energy firm Equinor to develop the Keadby hydrogen power station on the same site for 2028. It is expected to be the world’s first big 100 percent hydrogen-fired power station.
The firm hopes to attract government funding for its low-carbon hydrogen operations. As the U.K. faces record low temperatures and soaring energy prices, with fears of gas shortages, SSE is offering an alternative renewable energy that it expects will one day take the place of natural gas. The slow development of the green hydrogen sector is mainly due to the high costs incurred with the set-up of operations. However, government funding for these types of projects could help technologies advance more quickly and become cheaper to roll out on a bigger scale.
The European Union is also developing its hydrogen storage plans. It sees hydrogen storage as key to supplying renewable energy to power grids as needed. As hydrogen can be stored in large quantities over long periods of time, it offers greater energy security in the transition to green. It can help make energy systems more flexible, balancing supply with demand. This is an issue that plagues the green energy industry, as solar and wind projects often fail to provide energy during the peak hours of demand. New hydrogen storage facilities, as well as the expansion of the region’s battery storage capacity, could help boost reliable renewable energy provision.
As investment in hydrogen technology and production continues to increase worldwide, companies are shifting their focus to hydrogen storage as a means to make the energy supply from the renewable energy sector more reliable. This could support a more rapid transition away from fossil fuels, as well as boost energy security around the globe.
By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com
Hydrogen will never be more than ‘niche’, say MPs
Mace Dragados JV is trialling an AFC Energy H-Power Tower on its Euston station site in LondonHydrogen is likely to have a “specific but limited” role in decarbonising sectors, for example where electrification is not possible, and as a means of storing energy, according to MPs.
A report from the House of Commons Science & Technology Committee, title The role of hydrogen in achieving net zero, concludes that hydrogen is not likely to be practically and economically viable for mass use in the short and medium term for heating homes or fuelling vehicles due to the cost, technological and infrastructure challenges associated – as well as the “unassailable” market lead held by alternatives such as electric cars.
The Commons Science & Technology Committee disagrees with the Climate Change Committee’s recommendation that the government should mandate new domestic boilers to be hydrogen-ready from 2025.
Currently, hydrogen is overwhelmingly produced from fossil-fuel intensive processes, the MPs note. Efficient production of low-carbon ‘green’ hydrogen relies on abundant cheap renewable electricity and so-called ‘blue’ hydrogen requires carbon capture and storage, which is not deployed at the large scale required to make a material contribution to emissions reductions. Given this, the committee says that it is “unwise” to assume hydrogen can make a large contribution to reducing UK greenhouse gas emissions in the short and medium term.
The committee is “unconvinced” that hydrogen will be able to play a widespread role in heating homes by 2026, when the government has said it could start mandating hydrogen-ready boilers in domestic homes, though it could be feasible to blend some hydrogen with natural gas. It also argues that policy for hydrogen metering in homes has been “overlooked”, with the energy regulator Ofgem unable to say whether current smart meters would be suitable for hydrogen or the cost implications for the consumer if they are not suitable.
The committee outlines the areas where the use of hydrogen does have potential, including in the decarbonisation of UK industrial clusters, where hydrogen is already produced; in parts of transport such as areas of the rail network that are hard to electrify, bus networks that have a local pattern of operations susceptible to refuelling at depots, and some parts of shipping and aviation.
The committee says that the government should, in the next two months, outline a series of decision points between now and 2050 that will set out the role of hydrogen in the UK’s future energy system. This should include specifying what scientific and technological progress needs to be made at each stage, such as requirements for the deployment of carbon capture and storage to make blue hydrogen economic and the level of renewable generation that would lead to surplus power which could be used to produce green hydrogen.
Greg Clark MP, chair of the committee, said: “Hydrogen can play an important role in decarbonising the UK’s economy, but it is not a panacea.
“There are significant infrastructure challenges associated with converting our energy networks to use hydrogen and uncertainty about when low-carbon hydrogen can be produced at scale at an economical cost.
“But there are important applications for hydrogen in particular industries so it can be, in the words of one witness to our inquiry, ‘a big niche’.
“We welcome the government’s high-level strategy and support of hydrogen trials, but future decisions on the role of hydrogen must increasingly be practical, taking into account what is technically and economically achievable. We call on the government to set out a series of decision points, which would give industry the clarity that it needs.”
The full report can be found at publications.parliament.uk
By Sarah Mcfarlane
and Ron Bousso
A general view of hydrogen electrolysis plant called 'REFHYNE', one of the world's first green hydrogen plants, during a launch event at Shell's Rhineland refinery in Wesseling near Cologne, Germany, July 2, 2021. REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen
LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The green hydrogen express is gathering pace, but it may have a worrying problem with leaks.
As governments and energy companies line up big bets on the much-touted fuel of the future, some scientists say the lack of data on leaks and the potential harm they could cause is a blind spot for the nascent industry.
At least four studies published this year say hydrogen loses its environmental edge when it seeps into the atmosphere. Two scientists told Reuters that if 10% leaks during its production, transportation, storage or use, the benefits of using green hydrogen over fossil fuels would be completely wiped out.
Governments are pushing ahead with financial support for the industry, however. The United States included billions of dollars of green hydrogen tax credits in its Inflation Reduction Act and the European Union approved 5.2 billion euros ($5.5 billion) in subsidies for green hydrogen projects in September.
Scientists say the problem with hydrogen is that when it leaks into the atmosphere, it reduces the concentration of molecules that destroy the greenhouse gases already there, potentially contributing to global warming.
They say the lack of technology for monitoring hydrogen leaks means there is a data gap, and more research is needed to calculate its net impact on global warming before final investment decisions are taken.
Columbia University, the Environmental Defense Fund, a joint project by the universities of Cambridge and Reading, and the Frazer-Nash Consultancy have all published studies about the risk of leaks undermining green hydrogen's climate benefits.
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"We need much better data. We need much better devices to measure the leakage, and we need regulation which actually enforces the measurement of the leakage," said Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a researcher at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy.
It estimates that leakage rates could reach up to 5.6% by 2050 when hydrogen is being used more widely.
Norway's climate research institute CICERO is also working on a three-and-a-half-year study due to conclude in June 2024 on the impact of hydrogen emissions. Maria Sand, who is leading the research, said there was a big gap in the science.
"We need to be aware of the leakages, we need some answers," said Sand. "There is big potential for hydrogen, we just need to know more before we make the big transition.
MEASURED APPROACH
The hydrogen used now in oil refineries, chemicals factories and the fertiliser industry is made from natural gas in a process that produces carbon dioxide. Green hydrogen is made by using renewable energy to split water through electrolysis, without producing greenhouse gases.
The chief attraction of using hydrogen as a fuel is that the main by-product is water vapour, along with small amounts of nitrogen oxides, making it far less polluting than fossil fuels - assuming it doesn't seep out.
Leaks are one of many issues plaguing the adoption of green hydrogen, besides high costs, safety concerns, and the need to invest in enough renewable energy to make it, as well as in the infrastructure to store and transport the colourless gas.
Last week, Brussels called for applications for funding for more research into the risks linked to a large-scale deployment of hydrogen. It asked the research to show how hydrogen could reduce global warming by replacing fossil fuels, but also how it could contribute to global warming in the event of leakages.
The Environmental Defense Fund's study, meanwhile, urged governments and businesses to gather data on hydrogen leakage rates first, then identify where the risks were highest and how to mitigate them before building the infrastructure needed.
The Frazer-Nash report also flagged how measures to prevent hydrogen leaks needed to be taken into account to allow for greater up-front and maintenance costs.
"The more we know about how to produce it in a sustainable way, and the regulation and management needed, the more it costs and therefore that limits its use unless there is no alternative," said Richard Lowes, senior associate at The Regulatory Assistance Project think-tank.
GREEN POTENTIAL
Scientists and analysts say that as hydrogen molecules are much smaller and lighter than those in methane, they are harder to contain. While potential leakages of hydrogen are not expected to be on a scale that could derail all green hydrogen plans, any seepage would erode its climate benefits, they say.
Almost 300 green hydrogen projects are under construction or have started up worldwide, but the vast majority are tiny demonstration plants, International Energy Agency data showed.
The largest is in China where Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group (600989.SS) is using green hydrogen produced from solar power to make petrochemicals such as polyethylene and polypropylene.
Consultancy DNV forecasts that green hydrogen would need to meet about 12% of the world's energy demand by 2050 to hit Paris climate targets. Based on the current pace of development and DNV's modelling of future uptake, the world is only on track to reach about 4%, DNV said.
David Cebon, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Cambridge, said 4% might be only what's "manageable", given the huge amount of renewable energy needed to make enough green hydrogen.
To replace the dirty hydrogen used now in refineries, fertiliser and chemical plants would require almost double the electricity produced by every wind turbine and solar panel worldwide, and that's before green hydrogen is used for anything else, such as steelmaking, transport or heating, Cebon said.
Still, the EU is considering mandates for green hydrogen's use in transport, while countries such as South Korea, Japan and China have targets for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.
LEAKY PIPES
The fossil fuel industry hopes that hydrogen could eventually move through existing infrastructure, such as gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas import and export terminals.
Hydrogen has not been monitored for leaks in the past, and most of the odourless gas used now is made where it is consumed - but there are plans to pipe and ship it vast distances.
About 1% of the natural gas, which is mostly methane, moving through European infrastructure leaks, but rates are higher in some countries including Russia, according to analysts and satellite images of leaks.
"There's a lot we don't know about hydrogen," said Sand at Norway's CICERO. "We don't know yet if we can assume it will behave the same way as methane."
Initial results of tests in pipelines at DNV's Spadeadam research site in northern England showed that hydrogen leaks in the same places and rates as natural gas.
Companies working on green hydrogen projects say, however, that careful monitoring would be needed.
Once hydrogen enters pipelines, it can weaken metal pipes which can lead to cracking. Hydrogen is also far more explosive than natural gas which could create safety issues.
Energy giant BP (BP.L), which is planning to build multiple green hydrogen projects, including a facility in Britain due to start in 2025 known as HyGreen Teesside, said it was developing leakage monitoring systems.
"We really want to launch an effort now to assess how low can we maintain the level of leakage across a value chain and that's going to be the critical thing," said Felipe Arbelaez, senior vice president for hydrogen and carbon capture at BP.
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