Research

Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) has potential to be the safest and lowest-cost option for large-scale gaseous hydrogen storage. This project will develop a user-friendly tool to screen and assess UHS sites in context to the broader hydrogen supply chain that the storage facility must integrate with.

This study assesses the potential for underground hydrogen storage (UHS) from a systems perspective. Access to viable large-scale storage is a critical component of the hydrogen value chain and will have significant impacts when selecting a location. This work creates an integrated techno-economic and underground storage model for intermittent hydrogen production coupled with storage in a depleted gas reservoir to identify and quantify the limitations of this aspect on an Australia-based hydrogen value chain.

This project will deliver:

– Integrated techno-economic and underground storage models covering the value chain elements of:

1. intermittent hydrogen production stream,
2. the mechanical stability and reactivity of a UHS site, and
3. subsurface and aboveground plant design and operation to meet the upstream supply and downstream demand requirements;

– ‘Minimum viable product’ (MVP) of a fully integrated simulation tool;

– Peer-reviewed publication(s); and

– Future Fuels CRC project reports

Dr Stephen McGrail

Email: stephenmcgrail@futurefuelscrc.com