Uniper, Germany’s Hydrogenious LOHC, JERA Americas, and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) today announced a joint study agreement (JSA) to investigate hydrogen transportation between the UAE and Germany using Hydrogenious’ Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC) technology.
The parties will investigate the possibility of scaling up existing LOHC technology to help meet growing global demand for hydrogen transportation, according to the agreement, which was announced during German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck’s visit to the UAE.
Hydrogen is widely recognized as a valuable clean energy source with the potential to meet a large portion of the world’s growing energy demands. However, because it is a very light element, transporting it over long distances is difficult. The LOHC technology developed by Hydrogenious provides a safe and low-cost method of bulk hydrogen storage and transportation by bonding hydrogen molecules to a non-flammable liquid, making it suitable for transportation and distribution.
The LOHC technology developed by Hydrogenious is based on the proprietary carrier material benzyl toluene (BT). There are no hydrogen losses when stored in the BT, allowing for long storage times and large volumes. It has simple handling characteristics at ambient pressures and temperatures, even in cold weather, allowing it to be handled within existing fuel logistics infrastructure. When compared to compressed hydrogen, its energy density is extremely advantageous, as a transportation vessel can store approximately five times more energy. Because BT is widely used in industry, it is widely available in commercial quantities. It is also recyclable and can be loaded and unloaded with hydrogen hundreds of times. LOHC has the potential to replace ammonia or liquid hydrogen in large-scale harbour-to-harbour supply chains.
The UAE’s competitive hydrogen production is made possible by its plentiful and low-cost access to renewable energy and hydrocarbons, as well as its existing large-scale hydrogen production infrastructure. ADNOC intends to lead Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s hydrogen activities by leveraging its hydrogen production, infrastructure, and partnership base, with the goal of becoming one of the world’s leading producers of hydrogen and its carrier fuels.
