Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and GKN Hydrogen have announced a research demonstration project with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to assess an innovative clean renewable hydrogen storage solution. The project, set at NREL’s Flatirons Campus in Arvada, Colo., will utilize GKN Hydrogen’s technology to store hydrogen in a solid state using metal hydrides, departing from traditional gaseous storage methods. The main goal is to evaluate the performance of this technology and its integration with clean energy systems such as microgrids or fuel cells. It aims to identify the most beneficial uses of solid-state storage for clean renewable hydrogen, potentially speeding up the move towards a net-zero emissions economy. The project involves converting water into clean renewable hydrogen through an electrolyzer powered by renewable sources like solar and wind. The hydrogen will be stored in GKN Hydrogen’s system in a solid state, without compression, and can be used in fuel cells to generate zero-emissions electricity. GKN Hydrogen foresees their storage systems providing significant benefits in safety, operational costs, and overall efficiency, aiming to facilitate the transition towards cleaner energy solutions as the hydrogen economy expands and costs decline. NREL’s Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) platform will play a crucial role in validating various commercial and industrial applications for decarbonization. The integration of systems like solar, electrolyzers, battery storage, and fuel cells will be explored to understand the potential use cases and benefits. With funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, NREL is set to deploy GKN Hydrogen’s storage subsystem, supported by additional funding from SoCalGas. The project, scheduled to run until December 2026, aims to contribute to the advancement of hydrogen technologies and renewable energies at a larger scale.