Hy Stor Energy – a company that develops and advances green hydrogen production, storage, and delivery at scale, has published a new case study together with the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a non-profit organization aiming to transform the global energy system, titled: Storing Green Hydrogen to Safeguard Energy Security.
The case study offers an outlook on how hydrogen promotes energy security and analyzes the energy benefits of building out clean hydrogen hubs across the U.S., particularly when hydrogen production can be coupled with reliable long-term storage.
Hy Stor Energy, as a developer of green hydrogen infrastructure, announced plans in Feb 2022 to open a green hydrogen hub in Mississippi, US which would be one of the largest green hydrogen developments in the world. The hub is an answer to the need for the growing hydrogen demand and the necessity of securing reliable long-term storage for the fuel of the future.
It will aim to produce 220,000 kg of green hydrogen per day and is about to be four-five times larger than any other green hydrogen development in the US. According to IEA, the global hydrogen demand is expected to grow to at least 212 million metric tons per year by 2030 and between 500 and 900 million metric tons annually by 2050. In 2020, it totaled around 90 million metric tons.
Relevant: The World’s Largest Green Hydrogen Storage Hub To Be Built In Mississippi
The Department of Energy plans to distribute over $9.5 billion in federal funding to support clean hydrogen market formation across the United States, with hubs and projects poised for rapid development.
In the case study, RMI and Hy Stor Energy are highlighting natural salt domes as offering ideal conditions for hydrogen storage, enabling flexibility and dependability in Hy Stor’s operations. Usually, for the storage to be created in natural salt caverns, it is necessary to drill into the salt and inject water to dissolve it. The resulting brine (water mixed with salt) is extracted which leaves room for a large, tight cavern where hydrogen can be stored under pressure.
Relevant: Hydrogen City Is A Full Value Chain Hydrogen Hub
Highlighted in the case study are some of the benefits of hydrogen deployment for the US energy security which include: mitigating heightened geopolitical and environmental risks, increasing the flexibility of the energy system, as the Mississippi Clean Hydrogen Hub (MCHH) is well located to provide energy to large industrial and transportation customers across the Gulf Coast.
The hub can also boost new green fertilizer manufacturing in the Midwest and reduce US exposure to volatile international agri-nutrient/fertilizer markets. It also can be seen as a backup energy source to plants facing potential outages, which could collectively save the US industry millions in avoided losses.
