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‘World first’ green hydrogen transport and storage demo to use existing terminal infrastructure
20/11/2024
News
Exolum says it has started the world’s first demonstration of commercial-scale transport and storage of green hydrogen in existing terminal infrastructure using liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC) at its terminal in Immingham, the UK’s largest freight port.
LOHCs are organic compounds that can absorb and release hydrogen through chemical reactions and can therefore be used as a means of storing and transporting hydrogen in liquid form, explains the company. The liquid logistics company operates a major fuel pipeline and tank storage network in the UK.
Exolum believes using its existing infrastructure will not only ‘accelerate a speedier, more flexible and more efficient growth of the hydrogen market’, but will also ‘open the door to the reuse of existing fossil fuel infrastructure’. In addition, it will ‘ensure that storage is located in areas closer to the points of expected demand, such as ports or industrial areas’.
The project has received £505,000 of public funding as part of the Hydrogen Storage and Distribution Supply Chain Collaborative R&D programme run by Innovate UK. The trial will transport 400 m3 of LOHC containing 20 tonnes of hydrogen through a 1.5-km long pipeline connecting Exolum’s facilities at Immingham East and Immingham West in the Humber region. Laboratory tests will be carried out to confirm that LOHC quality is maintained in this process.
The demonstration will also include a scientific study of the potential costs and benefits of converting, transporting, storing and releasing hydrogen as LOHC, to be published in early 2025.
Exolum estimates that its facilities in the UK could distribute 4.6 TWh/y of hydrogen, 30% of the total demand forecast by the UK government for 2030.
Ignacio Casajús, Exolum’s Global Strategy & Growth Lead, says: ‘[The Immingham project] proposes a realistic, safe and cheap formula for distributing green hydrogen that is in line with existing demand. In this way, we avoid developing new infrastructure by using our logistics network.’
In addition to this project, Exolum is developing a green hydrogen production plant and refuelling station as part of the Tees Valley Hydrogen Vehicle Ecosystem project, which also includes the construction of a water electrolyser and hydrogen refuelling station at the Exolum riverside terminal in Stockton-on-Tees, in the UK. The electrolyser will produce green hydrogen using electricity from renewable sources and will supply both the planned refuelling station, with a capacity of 1.5 t/d, and other customers in the region through a ‘hub and spoke’ distribution model.
