FECM has completed a multi-year study determining the viability, safety, and reliability of storing pure hydrogen or hydrogen-natural gas blends in different types of underground environments, allowing for much wider regional application.
Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
June 4, 2024
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The global transition to a low-carbon economy is underway and fossil energy-enabled hydrogen research and development is a critical part of building a secure energy future. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is endeavoring to better understand the potential for long-term hydrogen storage. In pursuit of this, DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) has completed a multi-year study determining the viability, safety, and reliability of storing pure hydrogen or hydrogen-natural gas blends in different types of underground environments, allowing for much wider regional application.
The three-year study, known as the Subsurface Hydrogen Assessment, Storage, and Technology Acceleration (SHASTA), used the expertise of four DOE national laboratories—National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories—to make several discoveries concerning the viability, safety, and reliability of storing pure hydrogen or hydrogen-natural gas blends in subsurface environments. The SHASTA Program presented the culmination of its fundings through the SHASTA Technology Workshop held during the Office of Resource Sustainability Program Review Meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Hydrogen has emerged as a low-carbon fuel option for transportation, electricity generation, manufacturing and industrial applications, and clean energy technologies that will accelerate the United States’ transition to a low-carbon economy. However, a key challenge facing policymakers is ensuring the safe and effective storage of hydrogen.
Until the study’s completion, primarily only salt dome structures or caverns were assessed for safe, large-volume underground hydrogen storage. Not all regions in the United States have the proper geological conditions for salt cavity storage. However, the success of SHASTA has more fully established the technical basis for using much larger capacities available in other non-salt-based subsurface environments, like porous subsurface rock found in depleted in oil and natural gas reservoirs, as well as the ability to reuse parts of existing natural gas storage infrastructure.
The multi-year study also looked at technologies and tools available to reduce the operational risks associated with underground hydrogen storage in those systems and to develop technologies and tools that reduce those risks.
An overarching methodology for assessing hydrogen storage suitability has been developed using two case study locations, the first in Alaska’s Cook Inlet Basin and a second in Pennsylvania’s Oriskany and Elk geologic formations.
The SHASTA team and participating stakeholders showcased a variety of technology transfers, including:
- SHASTA developed regional case studies to assess the potential for underground hydrogen storage across different geographies and geologic conditions, including porous media, salt caverns, saline aquifers, and hard rock storage.
- Researchers developed reservoir simulations and successfully compared relevant geophysical codes and models to predict subsurface migration of hydrogen and natural gas blends.
- The SHASTA team determined that the current regulatory environment for underground natural gas storage can generally be applied to underground hydrogen storage.
- Geochemical impacts of subsurface hydrogen storage on reservoir and caprock characteristics were evaluated to understand well integrity.
- To mitigate potential leaks, investigators studied the effect gaseous hydrogen has on metals for hydrogen storage and developed real-time sensor technologies for underground hydrogen storage environments.
- Researchers and policymakers further established strategies for risk mitigation, operations, and recommended practices.
- The multi-lab team put forth hydrogen field-scale test plan to further demonstrate underground hydrogen storage in the United States.
These successes and the ongoing need to further enable underground hydrogen storage has resulted in an extension of SHASTA into fourth year of performance into 2025.
To learn more about our programs, visit the FECM's website or sign up for FECM news announcements. More information about the National Energy Technology Laboratory is available on NETL’s website.
