At-a-Glance:
A study released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) indicates pumped hydro and compressed air energy storage will soon be cost-effective for day-long storage, while hydrogen for long-duration storage will be cost-effective by 2050 or sooner. To learn more, read this article in PV Magazine titled “NREL study backs hydrogen for long-duration storage”.
Key Takeaways:
- The power equipment begins with an electrolyzer to produce hydrogen from water—a process that can be powered with solar or wind power. Later, to convert the hydrogen to electricity, the power equipment would be either a fuel cell or a gas turbine.
- The Department of Energy has announced plans for a research and development program to achieve “large-scale, affordable” electrolyzers, and a second program to accelerate development of fuel cells for “heavy-duty vehicle applications.”
- The study is titled “The Value of Seasonal Energy Storage Technologies for the Integration of Wind and Solar Power” and will be available at no cost next May.
Path to 100% Perspective:
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), hydrogen has emerged as an important part of the clean energy mix needed to ensure a sustainable future. Falling costs for the most abundant element on Earth produced with renewable energy, combined with the urgency of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions, has given clean hydrogen unprecedented political and business momentum. To learn more, download the IRENA report.
Photo by Jani Brumet on Unsplash