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FINDING HYDROGEN STORAGE OPPORTUNITIES
Sam Voegeli, Market Sector Lead, Energy
samuel.voegeli@respec.com
With all of the interest currently being invested into the growing hydrogen economy, the need to develop hub-scale hydrogen storage is becoming crucial. To meet this demand, storing hydrogen in underground salt caverns has become a primary focus of the energy industry.
So how does RESPEC find suitable underground salt formations for hydrogen storage?
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Combined with our wealth of experience, RESPEC uses a variety of well-established exploration techniques to characterize and evaluate the storage potential of a target salt formation.
These techniques vary slightly depending on the type of salt formation: domal or bedded. Domal salt formations are generally isolated “mountains” of salt that encompass several square miles. Bedded salt formations are extensive layers of salt that span thousands of square miles.
For domal salt exploration, the first step in locating a suitable storage formation typically involves an aerial gravity survey to detect the salt dome’s relatively low density (i.e., low gravity).
Because these surveys are moderately coarse and only provide a general indication of storage potential, a detailed ground gravity survey can subsequently be performed on a target location to define the salt structure more accurately. Seismic surveying is then performed to further refine the salt dome size and depth. These gravity and seismic surveys are combined into a 3D geologic model that is used to design and execute a series of diamond core drills to retrieve salt samples, which provide valuable ground truth data to the exploration program. These core samples and wireline logs are analyzed to determine the salt dome’s suitability for underground hydrogen storage.
For bedded salt exploration, gravity surveys provide less assistance; therefore, RESPEC typically relies on seismic surveys, exploration drilling, and historical drilling information. Although bedded salt formations often extend laterally for thousands of square miles, significant exploration work is still required to avoid anomalous features, such as faults, thinning salt, dissolution collapse, and other hazards that could impact the suitability of developing underground hydrogen storage.
Although exploring for hydrogen storage salt formations may seem straightforward, every location is unique and requires a customized approach to fully understand its storage potential. Because geologic conditions will often dictate the feasibility of underground hydrogen storage, approaching a new project with a well-designed and -executed exploration program is paramount… which is something RESPEC prides itself in!
Photo Credit: www.hillgeo.com