Hydrogen storage model for decarbonization of constant industrial processes

The decarbonization of industrial processes will require large quantities of green hydrogen produced with renewable energy. The use of variable renewable energy for hydrogen production will, in turn, necessitate large-scale hydrogen storage to ensure the constant availability of hydrogen. In existing energy models, hydrogen storage is typically included as a ‘black box’ unit that simplifies the behavior of hydrogen during the operation of a storage cycle. In this study, a high-fidelity hydrogen gas storage model is developed. The model considers the behavior of hydrogen as a real gas during storage operations, a defining advancement compared to previous studies, and utilizes hourly data sets of renewable energy production. The model is first demonstrated on a baseline case located in Finland, where 121 MW of wind power capacity supplies an annual hydrogen demand of 6000 tonnes, mandating a hydrogen storage capacity of 575 tonnes. Next, a sensitivity analysis reveals that increasing wind power capacity or adding solar power to the energy mix decreases the storage requirement significantly. On the other hand, increasing the minimum storage pressure or reducing the electrolyzer capacity both increase the required storage capacity. Finally, the baseline case was used to compare storage technologies available in the Finnish context, and lined rock caverns were found to be the most cost-efficient option with a reasonable storage volume. Overall, the study concludes that significant storage capacities and thus investments are required for the industrial utilization of green hydrogen. Therefore, it is essential that the behavior of hydrogen as a real gas is considered when sizing storage systems. • Hourly-based hydrogen storage model considers real gas behavior during operation. • Reference case study in Finland established for 6000 tH 2 /a demand with a 525 tH 2 storage. • Wind power overcapacity of 20% decreases the storage requirement by 72.5%. • LRC storage is found to be an economically favorable technology in the Finnish case study.