世界各地的能源公司都在竞相开发氢气储存技术，认为这将有助于减少对天然气的依赖，提高能源安全
美国能源部已经确定了美国一些它认为最适合进行洞穴储氢开发的地区
英国和欧盟也在进行储氢项目，英国和欧盟都在拼命寻找管道天然气的替代品
石油设备网讯 据油价网12月23日报道，在全球范围内，能源公司和政府都在竞相开发氢气储存能力，以提高能源安全，减少对天然气的依赖。随着对氢气储存技术研发投资的增加，几个世界大国正在开发更好的储氢解决方案，以支持氢气的多种用途的推广。提高储氢能力将使各国能够生产和储存氢气，以与天然气相同的方式使用。
作为国家清洁氢气战略和路线图的一部分，美国能源部(DoE)讨论了增加氢气储存的潜力。DoE考虑了氢气储存的替代方法，以决定长期储存的最佳选择。氢气可以以多种不同的方式保存，既可以保存在气态或液态容器中，也可以保存在地下地层中，或保存在氢气载体等材料中。根据氢气的使用方式，每种选择都是合适的。
在美国，已经有商业容器和液体杜瓦瓶在使用，主要用于能源站点和加油站。由于大量液态氢气被用于航空航天，佛罗里达州的肯尼迪航天中心有一个储存125万加仑液态氢气的容器。地下洞穴也用于储存氢气，供石化工业使用，目前美国有三个大型地质储氢洞穴。这些洞穴中的大多数都是在使用氢气的地区附近的盐沉积物中挖掘的。美国能源部的路线图确定了美国最适合进行更大的洞穴储存氢气开发的一些地区，包括氢气和碳捕获与储存(CCS)业务中的碳。
美国能源部强调，氢气储存是推进氢气和燃料电池技术用于固定电源、便携式电源和交通运输的关键。由于环境温度密度低，氢气的单位体积能量低，需要特殊的储存形式。用来储存氢气的储罐必须承受350-700巴的高压。液氢需要储存在低温下，因为它的沸点为-252.8°C。美国氢气与燃料电池技术办公室(HFTO)旨在开发氢气储存选项，以满足能源部轻型车辆、物料搬运设备和便携式电源应用的氢气储存目标。
在英国，英国电力公司SSE 12月开始在约克郡东部挖掘一个地下洞穴，以储存氢气，以备急用。这个项目包括一个35兆瓦的电解槽，用于生产绿色氢气，这些氢气将储存在巨大的洞穴中。氢气可以用来点燃涡轮机，在需求高峰时向电网供电。SSE希望，预计耗资超过1.2亿美元的探路者项目将为未来更大规模的储氢项目提供蓝图。SSE预计该项目将于2025年投入运营。西门子能源将负责该项目的设计和工程工作。SSE还有更宏大的长期计划，已与挪威能源公司Equinor合作，在2028年在同一地点开发Keadby氢气发电站。它有望成为世界上第一个大型的100%氢气发电站。
SSE希望为其低碳氢气业务吸引政府资金。由于担心天然气短缺，英国面临创纪录的低温和飙升的能源价格，SSE提供了一种可替代的可再生能源，预计有朝一日将取代天然气。绿色氢气行业发展缓慢的主要原因是运营成本高昂。然而，政府对这类项目的资助可以帮助技术更快发展，并降低大规模推广的成本。
欧盟也在制定氢气储存计划。欧盟认为，氢气储存是向电网提供可再生能源的关键。由于氢气可以长期大量储存，因此在向绿色转型的过程中提供了更大的能源安全性。它有助于使能源系统更加灵活，平衡供需。这是一个困扰绿色能源行业的问题，因为太阳能和风能项目往往无法在需求高峰时段提供能源。新的氢气储存设施，以及该地区电池储存能力的扩大，可能有助于提高可靠的可再生能源供应。
由于全球范围内对氢气储存技术和生产的投资不断增加，企业正将重点转移到氢气储存上，以使可再生能源部门的能源供应更加可靠。这可以支持更快速地摆脱化石燃料的转型，并增强全球的能源安全。
李峻 编译自 油价网
原文如下：
The Race To Develop Hydrogen Storage
· Energy companies around the world are racing to develop hydrogen storage, believing that it will help to reduce dependence on natural gas and boost energy security.
· The Department of Energy has identified some regions in the U.S. that it believes will be most suitable for cavern storage development.
· There are also hydrogen storage projects underway in the UK and the EU, both of which are desperately looking for alternatives to natural gas.
Around the globe, energy companies and governments are racing to develop their hydrogen storage capacity in an attempt to boost their energy security and reduce their reliance on natural gas. As investment into the research and development of hydrogen technologies increases, several world powers are developing better storage solutions to support the rollout of hydrogen for a multitude of uses. Boosting storage capacity will allow countries to produce and store hydrogen for use much in the same way as natural gas.
As part of its National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) discusses the potential for increasing hydrogen storage. It considers the alternative approaches to hydrogen storage to decide on the optimal option for long-term storage. Hydrogen can be kept in a number of different ways, either in gaseous or liquid vessels, in underground formations, or in materials such as hydrogen carriers. Depending on how the hydrogen will be used, each of these options can be appropriate.
There are already commercial tanks and liquid dewars being used in the U.S., mainly on energy sites and fuelling stations. As huge quantities of liquid hydrogen are used in aerospace, the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is home to a storage vessel for 1.25 million gallons of liquid hydrogen. Underground caverns are also used to store hydrogen for use in the petrochemical industry, with three large-scale geological hydrogen storage caverns in the U.S. at present. Most of these caverns are excavated in salt deposits near areas intended for hydrogen use. The DoE roadmap identifies some of the regions in the U.S. most suitable for greater cavern storage development, both for hydrogen and for carbon from carbon capture and storage (CCS) operations.
The DoE highlights hydrogen storage as key for the advancement of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies for stationary power, portable power, and transportation. Due to its low ambient temperature density hydrogen has a low energy per unit volume, and it requires specialist forms of storage. Tanks used to keep hydrogen gas must sustain a high pressure of between 350–700 bars. And liquid hydrogen needs to be stored at cryogenic temperatures, as it has a boiling point of −252.8°C. The U.S. Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) aims to develop hydrogen storage options to meet the DoE hydrogen storage targets for onboard light-duty vehicles, material-handling equipment, and portable power applications.
In the U.K., the energy company SSE started work this month on the excavation of an underground cavern in east Yorkshire to store hydrogen for use when urgently needed. The project includes a 35-megawatt electrolyzer to produce green hydrogen that will be stored in the giant cavern. The hydrogen can be used to fire a turbine to supply power to the grid during times of peak demand. SSE hopes the Pathfinder project, which is expected to cost over $120 million, will offer a blueprint for larger-scale hydrogen storage projects in the future. It expects the project to be operational by 2025. Siemens Energy will be carrying out the project’s design and engineering work. SSE has even bigger long-term plans, having partnered with Norwegian energy firm Equinor to develop the Keadby hydrogen power station on the same site for 2028. It is expected to be the world’s first big 100 percent hydrogen-fired power station.
The firm hopes to attract government funding for its low-carbon hydrogen operations. As the U.K. faces record low temperatures and soaring energy prices, with fears of gas shortages, SSE is offering an alternative renewable energy that it expects will one day take the place of natural gas. The slow development of the green hydrogen sector is mainly due to the high costs incurred with the set-up of operations. However, government funding for these types of projects could help technologies advance more quickly and become cheaper to roll out on a bigger scale.
The European Union is also developing its hydrogen storage plans. It sees hydrogen storage as key to supplying renewable energy to power grids as needed. As hydrogen can be stored in large quantities over long periods of time, it offers greater energy security in the transition to green. It can help make energy systems more flexible, balancing supply with demand. This is an issue that plagues the green energy industry, as solar and wind projects often fail to provide energy during the peak hours of demand. New hydrogen storage facilities, as well as the expansion of the region’s battery storage capacity, could help boost reliable renewable energy provision.
As investment in hydrogen technology and production continues to increase worldwide, companies are shifting their focus to hydrogen storage as a means to make the energy supply from the renewable energy sector more reliable. This could support a more rapid transition away from fossil fuels, as well as boost energy security around the globe.
