Fraunhofer IAO, DHBW Heilbronn examine decentralized hydrogen storage

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From pv magazine Germany

What is the best way to store green hydrogen in a decentralized manner? As is so often the case, the answer is: It depends — on framework conditions, respective applications and the resulting requirements.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO has therefore partnered with the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University Heilbronn (DHBW) to produce a study that presents the properties and possible uses of physical, chemical and pure hydrogen storage in neighborhoods, at company locations and on campus grounds.

Each storage option offers specific advantages and disadvantages due to its properties, explained Sven Christian from DHBW Heilbronn. “We therefore assessed the suitability of the various storage technologies based on the criteria of hardware availability, technological maturity, safety, efficiency and space requirements.”

The experts considered the following storage types to be particularly suitable: compressed gas storage (200 to 300 bar), liquid gas storage, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC), methanol and methane.

Battery storage should be considered as an alternative

In order to be able to better assess the economic and ecological profitability of decentralized hydrogen storage, the researchers at Fraunhofer IAO simulated a decentralized energy system using the Local Energy Planner, or “LEny” for short, developed at the institute. The input data for the simulation consisted of load profiles for electricity and heat, weather data, the dimensioning of energy components used, and current prices, costs and emission factors. In addition, they compared the storage of energy in battery storage with hydrogen storage.

“The simulation showed that battery storage is more efficient than hydrogen storage. Although an economic amortization of hydrogen storage was achieved in one scenario, battery storage should be considered as an alternative,” said Fraunhofer IAO scientist Georg Göhler.

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