Australia provides $2m for underground hydrogen storage study

The H2RESTORE project from Lochard Energy is estimated to cost $6.3m.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has provided Lochard Energy with $2m for an 18-month feasibility study into large-scale hydrogen production and storage in Victoria’s onshore Otway Basin.

The feasibility study – estimated at $6.3m – serves as the second stage of Lochard’s H2RESTORE project that supports the National Electricity Market (NEM) with long-term hydrogen energy storage.

H2RESTORE is designed to generate hydrogen through electrolysis from excess energy sourced from the NEM and store it underground. Hydrogen is then converted into electricity to supply the NEM from interchanging demands.

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The project will also plan to repurpose several of Lochard’s existing underground gas storage reservoirs for long-term hydrogen storage.

“Renewable hydrogen has an important role to play in helping Australia reach net zero, but cost-effective storage is a looming challenge for the industry. Solving the storage issue will be critical to enabling renewable hydrogen to be used as a form of long duration energy storage in Australia,” Darren Miller, CEO of ARENA, said.