dCarbonX, a firm looking to develop offshore geothermal energy and storage sites for CO2, hydrogen, and ammonia, has struck a deal with the Irish state-owned Electricity Supply Board (ESB) to develop large-scale storage for green hydrogen off the coast of County Cork, Ireland.
The project, called 'Green Hydrogen @ Kinsale,’ could have the potential to store up to three TWh of green hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, the equivalent of approximately 10 percent of current Irish annual electricity consumption, dCarbonX said.
A proprietary evaluation of the depleted gas field reservoir took place earlier this year to identify the potential for large-scale storage of green hydrogen. Since then, a comprehensive work program has begun, comprising subsurface analysis, mineralogy, capacity modeling, injection and withdrawal rates, compression, drilling evaluation, well design, retention assurance, monitoring, electrolysis, and infrastructure tie-in, dCarbonX said.
This is not the first project the two companies are working on, as they, back in May entered a partnership to identify and develop subsea energy storage offshore opportunities in Ireland. The companies have also proposed the development of a new ‘Green Hydrogen Valley,’ centered around the Poolbeg peninsula in Dublin, which will enable green hydrogen production and storage that can be used to decarbonize heavy transport, shipping, industry and power generation.
Padraig O’Hiceadha, ESB Strategy Manager, Generation, and Trading, said: “’Green Hydrogen @ Kinsale’ is another milestone in ESB’s commitment to exploring the significant opportunities in hydrogen production and storage. Mirroring developments across Europe and globally, ESB recognizes the role hydrogen will play in enabling a low carbon future.
"Transforming sites – such as the recently decommissioned gas reservoirs at Kinsale Head – and repurposing reservoirs for green hydrogen can deliver large-scale sustainable energy storage for homes and businesses in the future. We look forward to working with dCarbonX on this exciting renewable project.”
This project follows ESB’s announcement in May that it has plans to invest in a hydrogen facility as part of its redevelopment of the Moneypoint site into a renewable energy hub, ‘Green Atlantic @ Moneypoint.’
Dr John O’Sullivan, COO of dCarbonX, said: “The Kinsale Head reservoirs hosted safe, secure and reliable offshore natural gas subsurface energy storage for many years, underpinning Ireland’s security of gas supply. As subsurface lead for the original natural gas storage development, the dCarbonX and ESB partnership is optimally positioned to repurpose and develop these reservoirs for green hydrogen storage. Kinsale Head is the third Irish offshore location that we are assessing with ESB for green hydrogen storage and we look forward to providing further updates as appropriate.”
According to the companies, the County Cork region is ideally placed to be a renewable energy hub, having one of the largest natural harbors in the world, excellent energy and transport connectivity, modern global manufacturing and service industries together with power stations, refinery and gas reception terminal.