Techno-economic analysis of underground hydrogen storage in Europe

Mayukh Talukdar; Philipp Blum; Niklas Heinemann; Johannes Miocic

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.108771

Techno-economic analysis of underground hydrogen storage in Europe

iScience. 2023 Dec 20;27(1):108771. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108771. eCollection 2024 Jan 19.

Authors

Mayukh Talukdar¹, Philipp Blum¹, Niklas Heinemann², Johannes Miocic³

Affiliations

¹ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Applied Geosciences, Karlsruhe, Germany.
² School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
³ Energy and Sustainability Research Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.

Abstract

Hydrogen storage is crucial to developing secure renewable energy systems to meet the European Union's 2050 carbon neutrality objectives. However, a knowledge gap exists concerning the site-specific performance and economic viability of utilizing underground gas storage (UGS) sites for hydrogen storage in Europe. We compile information on European UGS sites to assess potential hydrogen storage capacity and evaluate the associated current and future costs. The total hydrogen storage potential in Europe is 349 TWh of working gas energy (WGE), with site-specific capital costs ranging from $10 million to $1 billion. Porous media and salt caverns, boasting a minimum storage capacity of 0.5 TWh WGE, exhibit levelized costs of $1.5 and $0.8 per kilogram of hydrogen, respectively. It is estimated that future levelized costs associated with hydrogen storage can potentially decrease to as low as $0.4 per kilogram after three experience cycles. Leveraging these techno-economic considerations, we identify suitable storage sites.

Keywords: Energy Management; Energy Modeling; Energy Storage; Engineering.