Hy Stor Energy applies for DOE funding for large-scale green hydrogen storage project

Hy Stor Energy is seeking funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE) for its Mississippi Clean Hydrogen Hub (MCHH), a green hydrogen storage project.

The company has submitted a formal application to the DOE for funding through its Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub initiative, which could total up to US$1 billion, it claimed.

The MCHH is a “multi-billion-dollar” project to create a clean hydrogen ecosystem for the production, storage and delivery of dispatchable renewable energy, using underground salt dome storage networks.

The company said its hydrogen will serve business, industrial, transportation and utility sectors across the Eastern US. On-site hydrogen will be produced through electrolysis powered by renewable energy. It could break ground as early as this year, Hy Stor said.

Various reports peg the total investment needed at US$3 billion and a targeted storage capacity of 30,000 mt – Megatonnes – of green hydrogen.

It is one of several applying for the DOE funding to become a major hydrogen hub but claimed it is the only applicant which promises to only produce green hydrogen, i.e. only powered by renewable energy.

Green hydrogen technology is being heavily invested in around the world, with the primary use case being to replace certain feedstocks in industry. Some projects, like Aces Delta in Utah, are planning to use hydrogen in legacy gas plants as a replacement for natural gas.

The conversion of hydrogen back into electricity – sometimes referred to as power-to-x-to-power – has a round-trip efficiency (RTE) too low to generally be considered economical.