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Funded by
© IDRIC 2022 | Website: Tangent & Duncan Weddell & Co
Principal Investigator
Research Centre for Carbon Solutions, Heriot-Watt University
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.
Our aim is to address to two critical components that a reliable and robust national gas network would require: