The purpose of this solicitation is to fund a project that will evaluate the feasibility of using existing underground gas storage facilities to store clean renewable hydrogen in California. This project will develop technical and economic assessments of storing and retrieving hydrogen blends and/or pure hydrogen as well as California-specific decision-making tools, risk mitigation strategies, market and policy recommendations, and community engagement approaches related to those facilities.
This solicitation responds to the Fiscal Year 2022-23 Gas Research and Development (Gas R&D) Program Budget Plan initiative titled “Large-Volume Hydrogen Storage for Targeted Use Cases." The proposed research is intended to support hydrogen reliability and affordability for targeted and hard-to-decarbonize end-uses such as high-temperature industrial processes, peaking power generation, and heavy-duty transportation.
Large-volume storage of clean hydrogen can play a critical role in balancing seasonal fluctuations in supply and demand similar to underground gas storage today. The 2023 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) includes modeling results of the potential growth for hydrogen and its role in decarbonizing the electricity and transportation sectors of the economy required by SB 1075.[3] The results highlight uncertainties with scaling up delivery infrastructure and above-ground storage in alignment with the projected expansion of hydrogen production and demand. Underground hydrogen storage has the potential to store hydrogen with minimal surface footprint and at a lower investment cost when compared to above-ground methods.[4] The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Subsurface Hydrogen Assessment, Storage, and Technology Acceleration (SHASTA) project is evaluating various geological options, including salt caverns, saline aquifers, and depleted gas reservoirs, for underground hydrogen storage at a national level.[5] While informative, the feasibility of underground hydrogen storage in California depends not only on geological criteria and infrastructure requirements, but also on local energy needs.
Project Focus
Research under this solicitation will support comprehensive technical and economic feasibility assessments of at least two existing underground gas storage facilities in California for their potential to store clean renewable hydrogen. The project is encouraged to assess a selection of geographically diverse sites (i.e., a Northern California site and Southern California site).
The project must meet the following requirements:
- Engage with local communities and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) located around the selected sites for the study and assess the communities’ awareness of and support for underground hydrogen storage. Leverage feedback and learnings from this engagement to inform an experimental design responsive to community interests and concerns. Inform communities of project results and potential impacts of underground hydrogen storage.
- Study the characteristics of two selected sites representing existing underground gas storage facilities in California and conduct experiments to assess potential impacts of introducing hydrogen to the selected sites. Experiments should be inclusive of use cases involving storage as well as retrieval of hydrogen blends and sufficiently pure hydrogen for separation and end-use needs. Proposals for small-scale pilot testing or field experiments are eligible but must include a robust risk mitigation strategy.
At a minimum, experiments should examine: - Well integrity including the direct impacts to equipment and mechanical barriers from hydrogen exposure, and the impacts of subsurface environmental and microbial changes following hydrogen injection.
- Deliverability and reservoir dynamics such as permeability, viscosity, injection and withdrawal optimization, and potential hydrogen losses due to leakage, microbial activity, and time-dependent changes in the subsurface environment.
- Necessary mitigation measures (e.g., material selection, inspection tools, operational changes) to ensure safety and reliability.
- Conduct a quantitative risk assessment and techno-economic analysis for converting the selected underground gas storage facilities to store clean renewable hydrogen.
This assessment will: - Compare costs and risks of potential use cases, considering interactions with connected gas infrastructure (e.g., storage and delivery of hydrogen blends, storage of hydrogen blends with separation at the surface, storage and distribution of pure hydrogen).
- Estimate levelized cost of hydrogen storage, levelized total capital costs, and operations and maintenance costs for the selected sites, leveraging existing frameworks such as the Local-Scale Framework for Techno-Economic Analysis of Subsurface Hydrogen Storage, considering California-specific characteristics.
- Develop recommendations for Gas IOUs, CBOs, policymakers, and relevant stakeholders to support decision making on next steps pertaining to the role of underground hydrogen storage in California, which may include additional R&D or demonstrations.
Optional but desired project elements include:
- Compare the levelized cost of hydrogen storage and life-cycle emissions between underground hydrogen storage and alternative storage options like hydrogen carriers and conversion of hydrogen into synthetic methane.
- In addition to studying existing underground gas storage facilities, also examine potential of storing hydrogen in saline aquifers in preferable locations that allow for reuse of existing gas pipeline infrastructure.
The Project Narrative (Attachment 2) must discuss the following in the Technical Approach:
- Provide relevant pre-existing information to support the selection of the existing underground gas storage facilities that will be studied in this project, including the potential hydrogen storage capacities, known risk factors, operational history, well and reservoir status, and support from Gas IOUs and CBOs.
- Identify any modeling and simulation tools that will be used in the project. Include data sources, inputs, and assumptions. Describe how the use of these tools will complement the laboratory testing and field experiments.
- Describe the experimental approach including the types of samples that will be collected from the field sites, such as core samples.
- Describe the tests that will be performed, and how these tests will inform the quantitative risk assessment.
DEADLINE: June 28, 2024
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