North Sea reservoirs could store green hydrogen alongside CO2

A team at the University of Aberdeen is developing technology to allow electricity generated by renewable energies to be stored as green hydrogen in depleted offshore oil and gas reservoirs alongside industrial carbon emissions.

The technology under development at the University's School of Engineering could reduce constraint payments made to wind farm operators to stop generating electricity when production is too high, by allowing the excess electricity to be converted to green hydrogen.

ABERDEEN, UK — A team at the University of Aberdeen is developing technology to allow electricity generated by renewable energies to be stored as green hydrogen in depleted offshore oil and gas reservoirs alongside industrial carbon emissions.

The research could help Scotland become a net exporter of hydrogen, also providing new roles for the reservoirs and aquifers, and the associated subsea pipelines and well infrastructure.

And it could reduce the constraint payments currently made to UK windfarm operators to stop generating electricity when production is too high, through allowing the excess electricity to be converted to green hydrogen and stored for use elsewhere.

A recent report commissioned by the UK government highlighted the problems affecting the National Grid in coping with increased power generation as more renewables projects come on stream.

Dr Prashant Jadhawar from the University’s School of Engineering is leading the projects which have received support from the Net Zero Technology Centre’s (NZTC) Net Zero R&D Programme, with further backing from various UK North Sea operators, Scottish Gas Network and others.

He will present his research at the Offshore Europe conference’s Technical Session on Hydrogen Challenges tomorrow (Thursday) followed by a further talk on the University of Aberdeen’s stand (2E68) at 1 pm.

The first phase of the program which is underway involves a combination of modeling, simulation and laboratory experimentation to assess the most effective means of transporting hydrogen through the onshore and offshore North Sea pipeline network. The goal is to develop digital tools to enable transportation to homes and businesses.

Also under investigation currently is the co-storage of hydrogen and CO2 in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and aquifers, with CO2 acting as a ‘cushion’ gas. If successful, the technique could be applied to store blue hydrogen and the associated CO2 at a large scale.

A second phase will focus on field trials and commercialization through the potential formation of a spin-out company.

“Through our current research we have estimated up to a 20 TWh hydrogen storage capacity, as well as the permanent sequestration of 50 Mt of CO2 in a single UKCS reservoir investigated so far, Dr Jadhawar said.