Geoscientists from the University of Edinburgh are moving forward with the HyStorPor project, a study to advance the potential for large-scale underground hydrogen storage

In their quest to better understand underground hydrogen storage, geoscientists from the University of Edinburgh are pursuing their unique HyStorPor (Hydrogen Storage in Porous Media) project. The team of scientists have received £1.4 million ($1.5 million) in funding from the Engineering and Physical Research Council (EPSRC) to explore the underground hydrogen storage in porous rocks.

Whilst commercial scale underground hydrogen storage has never been tried before researchers claim that it could be one of the keys to overcoming the intermittency issues associated with wind and solar energy. The large-scale generation and storage of hydrogen, generated from excess renewable energy or steam reformation of methane with carbon capture and storage (CCS), could also replace methane for domestic heating, thereby reducing carbon emissions from one of the UK’s largest sources.

Several areas of underground hydrogen storage will be explored

According to The Engineer, there will be several areas investigated throughout the project. Some of these include:

• Whether hydrogen could react with the rocks into which it is injected
• How much of the injected hydrogen can actually be recovered from the rock
• How effectively the gas migrates through water-filled porous media

Additionally, the team will use digital computer models that can calculate how efficiently the H2 can be injected, and predict how much of it can be recovered throughout operation.

“On the pathway to cleaner air and in the fight against climate change, it is very likely that the UK will change heating in homes and industry from high-carbon methane gas to zero-carbon hydrogen and ammonia. Storing hydrogen made in the summer for use in the winter is a very important part of that change,” said Lead Professor Stuart Haszeldine, commenting on the project.

Our work with hydrogen

Universal Kraft works in the implementation of green efficient solutions covering the entire power production chain, and intends to be a part of the change. We have been working with green hydrogen production for several years through our partner company Universal H2.

We believe hydrogen could solve some of the energy transition’s biggest hurdles: storage, clean energy distribution, industry usage and heavy transport. In the new era of renewables, hydrogen and ammonia are a green option to fossil fuels, providing the same functionality on a large scale.

Complementary to direct electrification, hydrogen gives the green industry a chance to contribute beyond the grid, via the generation of green hydrogen as energy storage, greening of gas through methanation of hydrogen and feedstock for high-temperature local industrial processes that are difficult to electrify.

These green power alternatives are fundamental for a sustainable and complete clean energy transition. Universal Kraft has been working on alternative and innovative energy storage solutions for a number of years. 

Discover more about our solutions here.

Also read Green hydrogen breakthrough sees water turned to energy at room temperature