Review of Hydrogen Production Techniques from Water Using Renewable Energy Sources and Its Storage in Salt Caverns

Hydrogen is becoming an increasingly important energy carrier in sector integration for fuel cell transportation, heat and electricity. Underground salt caverns are one of the most promising ways to store the hydrogen obtained from water electrolysis using power generation from renewable energy sources (RES). At the same time, the production of hydrogen can be used to avoid energy curtailments during times of low electricity demand or low prices. The stored hydrogen can also be used during times of high energy demand for power generation, e.g., with fuel cells, to cover the fluctuations and shortages caused by low RES generation. This article presents an overview of the techniques that were used and proposed for using excess energy from RES for hydrogen production from water and its storage techniques, especially in underground salt caverns, for the aforementioned purpose, and its feasibility. This paper compares and summarizes the competing technologies based on the current state-of-the-art, identifies some of the difficulties in hydrogen production and storage, and discusses which technology is the most promising. The related analysis compares cost and techno-economic feasibility with regard to hydrogen production and storage systems. The paper also identifies the potential, technical challenges and the limitations associated with hydrogen integration into the power grid

Utilizing Underground Caverns as Energy Storage for Future Energy Systems: Challenges for Grid Integration

This paper provides the description of the research questions in the Hydrogen Cavern for Mobility (HyCAVMobil) project with a focus on power grid integration. The goal regarding the utilization of an underground cavern as energy storage for future energy systems is to research the interdependencies between underground-hydrogen-storage (UHS) facilities and the electrical power grid. This project presents the future concept for storing hydrogen in an underground salt cavern. This can later be used for mobility, industry and electrical power generation in times with high electrical energy demand. During the future work of the ongoing HyCAVMobil project, this concept will consider the real power grid infrastructure and influence of grid congestions on the storage cycle of hydrogen. The paper presents first findings from the 110 kV power grid simulation model, which was developed using the open access (open_eGo) data