Scotland could be the first region to store renewable hydrogen in underground tunnels designed for the purpose.
The project is the result of a collaboration between Gravitricity and Arup to deliver the feasibility study and the design, after the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy awarded a £300,000 funding pot.
The Edinburgh-based energy storage company and the environmental consulting firm will also seek to identify a viable location for the subterranean hydrogen storage facility.
In addition to gravitational energy storage and interseasonal heat, according to the partners, the design will also include gravity energy storage.
Gravitricity has invented a system that harnesses the force of gravity by utilizing excess electricity to elevate massive weights in a shaft that can be released, so transforming the lifting devices into generators.
Energy Minister Greg Hands stated, “The United Kingdom is clearly the world leader in hydrogen innovation because to the exciting work of companies such as Gravitricity.”
The government backing they got today will aid in the development of hydrogen as the future’s clean, affordable, and domestic superfuel.
Sally Molyneux, Hydrogen and Thermal Storage Lead at Gravitricity, stated, “Storing hydrogen in underground shafts is innately safer and less intrusive than above-ground choices and is a solution that does not require special geology like salt caverns.”
The business commissioned and ran a 250kW grid-connected demonstration system in Leith, Edinburgh, last summer.
