Metal Hydride-Based System for Backup Power: Cost-Effective and Efficient Energy Storage
Key Ideas
- Metal hydrides show promise for hydrogen storage with high energy density and safety features.
- Hydride-based systems offer cost advantages and smaller footprint compared to high-pressure gas storage.
- Complex metal hydrides can achieve competitive levelized costs of storage with extended charging times and increased operating cycles.
- Strategies to enhance competitiveness include using waste heat from fuel cells and reducing metal hydride production costs.
Metal hydrides are emerging as a viable option for hydrogen storage, particularly in stationary long-duration energy storage applications. This study focuses on a conceptual design of a metal hydride-based storage system for backup power, ranging from 0 to 20 MW supplied over 0 to 100 hours. By analyzing experimental hydrogen absorption and desorption data, the uptake and release of hydrogen under various pressure and temperature conditions are evaluated. The study benchmarks the system cost and performance, highlighting the advantages of metal hydride systems in terms of physical footprint and land requirements. The analysis shows that metal hydride storage systems can be cost competitive with high-pressure gas storage, with specific metal hydrides achieving favorable levelized costs of storage when considering charging times and operating cycles. Strategies such as utilizing waste heat from fuel cells and reducing production costs are identified as key factors to further enhance the competitiveness of metal hydrides in energy storage applications.