Battery storage plus hydrogen can enable a reliable, cheap clean energy transition. A combination of battery & H2 fuel cells can help the US, as well as most countries, transition to a 100% clean electricity grid in a low cost & reliable fashion, according to a new report from Stanford University

3 comments

1. >plus hydrogen

   Why they keep adding in the least efficient technology in their reports is beyond me. You can have a 100% reliable energy system based on renewables *without* hydrogen for much cheaper.

2. There are 500,000 EV chargers in the EU with every home, business and factory able to be a charge point. Who wants to drive around looking for a hydrogen fuel station?

3. Let’s say a 1MW/2MWh battery costs $1M, nice for day/night cycling.

   Let’s further assume that a 1MW electrolyzer and a 1MW fuel-cell cost $10M each, and a 2MWh worth of H2 storage tank $100,000.
   This whole lot is not very efficient, so we need 2x electrolyzer with 2 fuel cells and 2 tanks for a single battery performance, at a cost of $40.2M.

   Now you want ‘seasonal’. let’s say 1MW/2000MWh.

   With batteries that will cost you 1000 x $1M = $1B.
   With H2 that will cost $40M + 4000 x $0.1M = $440M.

   *I’m sure some efficiency tweaks can be made, but you get the idea.*

   Edit: when charging there is an excess energy production, the $$/MWh will be very low or even negative, when discharging there’s an energy shortage, and it’s competing against up to $1000/MWh coal.