Hydrogen storage

Technology

We’re developing hydrogen storage to enable greater energy flexibility and security.

Why Hydrogen Storage?

Hydrogen and other long-term energy storage technologies will be needed to balance out intermittent renewable generation and provide a secure long term means of storage to address seasonal variations in demand.

The volumes required for seasonal storage in the UK will mean the utilisation of subsurface geological formations such as salt caverns or depleted gas reservoirs for storing hydrogen.

This large scale hydrogen storage will ensure continuity of energy supply all year round irrespective of demand or weather conditions and provide the UK with vital energy security.

How we use Hydrogen storage

Hydrogen can be stored securely underground in a geological formations in the same way that natural gas currently is today. During periods when renewable generation is high, hydrogen can be produced and injected into these formations. Then when renewable output is too low to meet demand, the stored hydrogen can used to power flexible generation plant, providing a secure low carbon source of electricity for balancing the grid.

Our other hydrogen technologies

Hydrogen production

Through the process of electrolysis, excess renewable energy is used to produce green hydrogen. This hydrogen can be used in a variety of applications as a zero-carbon fuel, such as displacing natural gas for thermal power generation.

Flexible generation

Gas-fired thermal generation provides the bulk of today’s energy flexibility in the UK. Hydrogen can be used to displace natural gas as an input fuel and decarbonise this key source of flexibility.

Our other technologies

Short duration

Battery storage

Batteries are ideally-suited for short duration energy storage. Now well-established, battery storage is providing a cost-effective, fast and reliable way of supplying electricity to the grid for periods of up to four hours.

Mid duration

Pumped hydro

Pumped hydro-electric storage is a proven zero carbon technology for medium-duration energy storage. Although its expansion is limited by geography, it represents a significant source of the UK’s storage capacity.