MIP 3.2 Hydrogen storage and transport networks for net-zero industrial clusters

Hydrogen storage and transport networks for net-zero industrial clusters

IDRIC Project MIP 3.2

Background

Meeting the challenge of industrial decarbonisation requires large scale fuel switching to clean hydrogen, either blue hydrogen from fossil sources coupled with CCUS or green hydrogen using renewables like wind and solar. Hydrogen will soon be blended with natural gas and supplied safely to over 650 homes as part of a trial in Winlaton in the north-east of England. In Buckhaven, Scotland, H100 Fife project is will bring renewable hydrogen into 300 local homes in the first phase of this project. The UK is taking the first steps to expand the use of hydrogen in national gas network.

Prof Mercedes Maroto-Valer

Principal Investigator
Research Centre for Carbon Solutions, Heriot-Watt University

Project Team

Team:

Research Centre for Carbon Solutions, Heriot-Watt University:

Prof John Andresen
Dr Omid Shahrokhi
Dr Amir Jahanbakhsh
Johnson Jimba
Sean Higgins

Analysis by BEIS suggests 250-460TWh of hydrogen could be needed in 2050 (BEIS (2021), Carbon Budget 6 Impact Assessment). Safe transport and efficient underground hydrogen storage are essential to enable this large-scale energy transition based on intermittent renewable sources and meeting seasonal variations in energy demand. This project focuses on promoting a reliable cost-effective hydrogen transportation network in tandem with large storage and distribution hubs.

The UK currently has approximately 1.5 billion cubic meters, or 145TWh, of active underground natural gas storage capacity (salt caverns and depleted gas reservoirs). Current above ground (specialist tanks) and underground storage (salt caverns) methods simply cannot meet the required capacity to store similar levels of energy. Therefore, repurposing of depleted gas reservoirs to hydrogen storage sites is essential. To transport hydrogen between industrial clusters, underground storage sites and domestic consumers, fiscal metering of a hydrogen fuel blend is crucial. In collaboration with industrial partners, we aim to identify and reduce the risks of geological storage and transport of typical hydrogen streams.

Aim

Our aim is to address to two critical components that a reliable and robust national gas network would require:

Accurate fiscal metering
Safe and efficient large scale hydrogen storage