Topic 22b - Low-cost, high-performance hydrogen storage technology solutions for fossil-integrated energy storage systems

Co-location of energy storage with fossil fuel power plants helps to improve plant flexibility, promote efficient plant operations, and increase plant lifetime. Compared to battery storage, Hydrogen Energy Storage (HES) systems offer the advantages of potential lower cost, long cycle life and no self-discharge leading to long-term, seasonal storage of off-peak electricity. Two HES systems will be examined and compared, through a comprehensive techno-economic analysis and integrated system performance analysis. These systems combine water electrolysis, hydrogen storage and either fuel cells or hydrogen gas turbines. The first system is comprised of a traditional Regenerative Fuel Cell (RFC), with an electrolysis unit producing hydrogen, stored in a hydrogen storage system, which in turn is used in a fuel cell to produce electric power. The second, alternative system is comprised of a gas turbine replacing the fuel cell. This study will leverage and add to the current activities led by Siemens Energy and its partners by comparing fuel cell to gas turbines to better understand their potential and timeline and availability for large-scale HES applications. A second major aspect of this effort is to provide a detailed analysis of the various hydrogen physical storage systems available today and how each storage technology can best integrate with the other HES components. Phase 1 activities (three main tasks) include analysis and screening of major components, techno- economic analysis of different HES concepts, based on different scenarios and configurations and system modeling and design. The first task will focus on the techno-economic screening of the major components, as separate units of the proposed HES configurations. The work will aim to identify suitable units to be integrated and assembled in the overall HES units, based on targets and requirements established by our industrial partners (Siemens Energy and Duke Energy). The second task will focus on assessing the techno- economic performance of selected HES configurations, including sensitivity analyses for different scenarios, power size and possible alternative configurations. The third task will aim to develop and apply a process model, with the objective of analyzing the performance of HES, including transient behavior. The main objective is to provide inputs for commercial scale system design, under different operating conditions and scenarios, also including the start-up and shut-down transient analysis of the proposed HES system. Phase 1 efforts will provide input for development of commercial scale systems (Phase 2), based on the techno-economic analysis outcomes, and will provide the initial steps for initial demonstration of the proposed system integrated with a fossil fuel power plant at MW power scale. The achievement of the proposed targets in the project will allow large-scale hydrogen energy storage at low cost and high efficiency, with low carbon emission for fossil plant and other power plant platforms. The project activities will be carried out leveraging the outcomes and inputs from current DOE FE Energy Storage and DOE H2@Scale initiatives to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change.