Underground hydrogen storage is the practice of
hydrogen storage in
cave
A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
rns,
salt dome
A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when salt (or other evaporite minerals) intrudes into overlying rocks in a process known as diapirism. Salt domes can have unique surface and subsurface structures, and they can be discovered usi ...
s and depleted
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
/
gas field
A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations.
Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...
s. Large quantities of gaseous
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-to ...
have been stored in caverns for many years. The storage of large quantities of hydrogen underground in solution-mined
salt dome
A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when salt (or other evaporite minerals) intrudes into overlying rocks in a process known as diapirism. Salt domes can have unique surface and subsurface structures, and they can be discovered usi ...
s,
aquifer
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characte ...
s, excavated rock caverns, or
mines can function as
grid energy storage
Grid energy storage (also called large-scale energy storage) is a collection of methods used for energy storage on a large scale within an electrical power grid. Electrical energy is stored during times when electricity is plentiful and inex ...
, essential for the
hydrogen economy
The hydrogen economy is using hydrogen to decarbonize economic sectors which are hard to electrify, essentially, the "hard-to-abate" sectors such as cement, steel, long-haul transport etc. In order to phase out fossil fuels and limit climate ch ...
. By using a
turboexpander
A turboexpander, also referred to as a turbo-expander or an expansion turbine, is a centrifugal or axial-flow turbine, through which a high-pressure gas is expanded to produce work that is often used to drive a compressor or generator.
Because ...
the electricity needs for compressed storage on 200 bar amounts to 2.1% of the energy content.
Chevron Phillips Clemens Terminal
The Chevron Phillips Clemens Terminal in Texas has stored hydrogen since the 1980s in a solution-mined salt cavern. The cavern roof is about underground. The cavern is a cylinder with a diameter of , a height of , and a usable hydrogen capacity of , or .
Development
*
Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Bas ...
released in 2011 a life-cycle cost analysis framework for geologic storage of hydrogen.
*The European project
Hyunder indicated in 2013 that for the storage of wind and solar energy an additional 85 caverns are required as it cannot be covered by
pumped-storage hydroelectricity
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potent ...
and
compressed air energy storage
Compressed-air energy storage (CAES) is a way to store energy for later use using compressed air. At a utility scale, energy generated during periods of low demand can be released during peak load periods.Wild, Matthew, LWind Drives Growing Use o ...
systems.
*
ETI released in 2015 a report ''The role of hydrogen storage in a clean responsive power system'' noting that the UK has sufficient salt bed resources to provide tens of GWe.
*
RAG Austria AG
RAG Austria AG (RAG) is the largest gas storage operator and thus energy storage company in Austria. The company focuses its business activities on the storage of natural gas and other gaseous energy and the development of green-gas technologies ( ...
finished a hydrogen storage project in a depleted oil and gas field in Austria in 2017, and is conducting its second project "Underground Sun Conversion".
A cavern sized 800 m tall and 50 m diameter can hold hydrogen equivalent to 150 GWh.
See also
*
Grid energy storage
Grid energy storage (also called large-scale energy storage) is a collection of methods used for energy storage on a large scale within an electrical power grid. Electrical energy is stored during times when electricity is plentiful and inex ...
*
Hydrogen infrastructure
A hydrogen infrastructure is the infrastructure of hydrogen pipeline transport, points of hydrogen production and hydrogen stations (sometimes clustered as a hydrogen highway) for distribution as well as the sale of hydrogen fuel, and thus a cruci ...
*
Hydrogen economy
The hydrogen economy is using hydrogen to decarbonize economic sectors which are hard to electrify, essentially, the "hard-to-abate" sectors such as cement, steel, long-haul transport etc. In order to phase out fossil fuels and limit climate ch ...
*
Hydrogen turboexpander-generator
*
Power to gas
*
Timeline of hydrogen technologies
References
{{reflist
External links
Hydrogen Supply Availability with Cavern StorageLarge Hydrogen Underground StorageWasserstoff-Speicherung in Salzkavernen zur Glättung des Windstromangebots
(German)
1993-Energy and hydrogen Pag.482009-SNL-Geologic Storage of HydrogenHydrogen stored in salt caverns could be converted into flexible power sourcearchive
Sustainable technologies
Hydrogen storage