Gravitricity and Arup look underground for hydrogen storage

Edinburgh-based Gravitricity and Arup will collaborate on delivering a complete system design and commercial feasibility report for the idea, as well as identifying a potential site for their underground hydrogen store. The design will also include integration with gravity energy storage and inter-seasonal heat.

Gravitricity and Arup have been awarded £299,985 in Phase 1 of the Department of Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply 2 [HySupply 2] Competition.

If successful, the project could be selected to enter Phase 2, where the partners would build a scale demonstrator in the UK. This would involve sinking a concrete lined vertical underground shaft with a domed cap to create a demonstration pressurised hydrogen storage vessel.

In a statement, Sally Molyneux, Gravitricity’s hydrogen and thermal storage lead, said: “If green hydrogen is to become a mass market fuel of the future – for example for providing heat to industry or powering heavy vehicles – then we need to find ways to store it safely and in large quantities close to where it is needed.