Opportunities and motivations of this project on underground hydrogen storage in Pilbara and Midwest regions
Pilbara: An Affiliate of BP Australia is a participant in the Australian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH) project, which aims to develop 26GW of renewable power with an integration of solar and onshore wind power in this region. This project aims to produce around 1.6M tonnes of green hydrogen or 9M tonnes of green ammonia per year, contributing to Australia (in particular mining industry) and the wider Asia Pacific region’s energy transition. The large-scale hydrogen production requires large-scale hydrogen storage solutions, and underground hydrogen storage provides a solution. Porous subsurface formations (deep saline aquifers, depleted fields) may be an option. However, fundamentals of hydrogen flow in such formations (especially under cyclic loading) are poorly understood and need to be investigated.
This can be done on a small to large scale systems which are in proximity to AREH or GERI projects.
Expected Outcomes/Outputs:
This project aims to deliver the following main outcome:
A documentation on hydrogen conditioned rock physics and fluid dynamics to manage a risk associated with an aquifer invasion during the H2 cycling.
The outcomes of this research will support BP Australia and Western Australia policy makers in understanding the viable large-scale hydrogen storage facilities in Pilbara and Midwest regions. Moreover, we expect to identify operational constraints for managing and predicting reservoir performance for underground hydrogen storage. This project may also underpin BP Australia’s strategy in developing Australian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH) in Pilbara and Midwest regions. In addition, a potential commercial opportunity(s) may be identified in the region(s) for an underground hydrogen storage demonstration project.
Partners: BP Australia Pty Ltd. Curtin University, The University of Western Australia
Project Leader: Dr. Quan Xie
Duration: 12 Months