When people think of energy storage, they mostly think of batteries. This storage technology has advanced quite a bit over the past many years. Hydrogen is another energy carrier that can be used to store energy.
This 3-minute YouTube video, Emerson Enabling Mitsubishi Power’s Advanced Clean Energy Storage Hydrogen Hub, shares how Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc. has selected Emerson to automate the world’s largest green hydrogen production and storage facility. The hub will help integrate renewable energy by producing and storing green hydrogen for long-duration energy storage.
This Advanced Clean Energy Storage Hydrogen Hub project takes excess renewable energy not being used on the grid. It uses electrolyzers to break water into its molecular components—hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is stored in salt caverns. From this Mitsubishi Power Americas release, the:
…project’s salt caverns will be capable of holding more than 5,500 metric tonnes of hydrogen. From an energy storage perspective, one cavern holds the equivalent of 150 gigawatt hours (GWh) of carbon-free dispatchable energy and/or decarbonized fuel that can be used in other industries. By comparison, a U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2020 report estimates the current installed base of battery energy storage across the U.S. at 1.2 GWh.
When the electrical grid requires additional energy to satisfy power demand, the hydrogen feeds hydrogen-capable gas turbines to convert this energy into electrical energy.
Watch the video and visit the Accelerating the Transition to a Hydrogen Future section on Emerson.com for more on technologies and solutions across the hydrogen value chain to support global sustainability & decarbonization goals.