"Underground storage of hydrogen in a depleted gas and oil fields or other geological stores" Preparation project proposal FCH-02-5-2020

Hydrogen Source AS (HSAS) will use its competence in field modelling, process simulation, hydrogen generation and sub-terrain production processes to perform an evaluation and feasibility study. Partners will provide relevant information about a potential natural gas field, its subsurface competence and offshore infrastructure knowledge to perform an evaluation and feasibility study. The feasibility questions will be defined, including laboratory and possibly field tests and literature surveys implemented to cover all questions concerning geological, engineering and economic factors. The analysis should help clarify whether most of the hydrogen can be recovered, or if a significant percentage would be lost due to dissolution, diffusion, viscous fingering, chemical reactions or leakage. The geographical distribution of suitable types of geological store and their potential hydrogen capacities will be identified. A comprehensive techno-economic analysis of the considered approach should be undertaken, building on the findings of the HyUnder project57, to examine the potential for its widespread implementation 2025-2050. This should include (onshore and offshore) mapping of the proximity of suitable underground stores with existing and future wind/solar farms, modelling the production of renewable hydrogen, associated gas compression and hydrogen pipeline networks to transfer hydrogen to/from the stores, and identifying the profiles and amounts of renewable energy that can be buffered by such storage facilities to meet time-varying energy demands across all end use sectors. In addition, the techno-economic feasibility of implementing hydrogen storage in preferred locations should be assessed to a level sufficient to support a decision whether or not to proceed to field pilot demonstration. This will provide substantial insights into the suitability for implementing such storage across EU and enable the development of positive business cases for adoption.