The Government of Western Australia has developed a renewable hydrogen strategy with the vision that Western Australia will become a significant producer, exporter and user of renewable hydrogen. Western Australia has outstanding potential for renewable energy, with an abundance of sun, wind and space. The Western Australian Renewable Hydrogen Roadmap (November 2020) includes the evaluation of utilising depleted oil and gas fields for hydrogen storage. A key aspect is the ability to store the hydrogen on a transitory basis and to be able to recover the hydrogen in high concentrations.
The Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (‘DMIRS’) commissioned RISC to conduct a literature review of hydrogen storage and scoping study of storage potential of depleted oil and gas fields in Western Australia (‘WA’), along with a high-level literature review of other examples of underground hydrogen storage such as aquifers, salt caverns, underground mine sites and tunnels. RISC notes that there are alternative options for storing hydrogen on a transitory basis, such as surface and chemical methods, which are not included in the scope of this review.
The report is also available at the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Saftey's eBookshop (external link).
