Energy storage from hydrogen

Renewable energy sources are characterised by intermittent production which does not coincide with energy demand. Storage is therefore key to improving efficiency.

The HyCare project brings together academia with metal powder production company, GKN International, and French energy company, Engie, to investigate the possibility of using hydrogen as an energy vector.

“It is a great challenge,” said Professor Marcello Baricco of the University of Turin and project coordinator. “The theoretical studies on metal hydrides, performed in past years in European laboratories, will finally find a real application at a large scale.”

Only water needed

Compared to batteries, hydrogen allows large amounts of energy to be stored in a small space with little environmental impact as only water is used. The energy produced is sent to an electrolyser which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is stored then converted back into electrical energy when needed.

The challenge is how to store the hydrogen. High pressure cylinders are needed which is expensive and uses a large amount of space. The HyCare project, aided by a €2m grant from the European Community, is investigating whether the gas can instead be absorbed into a metal powder reducing the space needed.

The research will take place at Engie’s laboratories in Paris at a plant purpose-built by German company Sthüff and Italian Tecnodelta. Fellow Italian Bruno Kessler Foundation in Trento, the French CNRS, the Helmholtz Zentrum of Geesthacht in Germany and the Norwegian Institute for Energy are also supporting the project.