Powering the Future: Accelerating EV Adoption with Innovative Hydrogen-based Long Duration Energy Storage for Charging Stations
In 2023, more than one million new EV’s were sold in the United States — a record — and it is estimated that the number of EV’s in operation in the U.S. will grow from 3.5 million today to more than 28 million by 2030, just six years from now. While the transition to electric vehicles has offered a clear carbon reduction imperative, the rapid shift has had its challenges and limitations, not least of which has been keeping electric grid supply in line with exploding EV-driven electricity demand. At the same time, power-hungry AI data centers are coming online and exerting unprecedented pressure on our grids: by 2030, EV’s and data centers will use as much energy as 50 million homes (equivalent to about third of all American homes today) and would cost as much as $2 trillion to upgrade.
Reliable, widespread, cost-effective, and climate-neutral EV charging infrastructure is crucial to support the millions of existing EVs on the road today as well as the millions more that are expected to come online in the coming years — and future-proofing our electrical grid will have major economic, climate, and national security implications.
The limitations of energy production and storage
In an ideal scenario, EV charging infrastructure will rely solely on renewable energy sources; but in reality, the energy power situation is more complicated. In many places, fossil fuel-derived electricity is simply cheaper and easier to use.
Net-zero power production presents significant challenges: nuclear fission plants require decades to build and substantial capital investment; other renewables like hydroelectric, geothermal, and tidal are limited by geography; and although solar and wind have become more cost-effective, they suffer from intermittency, meaning they can’t always generate power when needed.
To address intermittency, we can either adjust our electricity consumption to align with renewable generation or develop methods to store and shift power over time. While demand response can help, it won’t be enough on a global scale. Long duration energy storage solutions are essential to handle seasonal variations in renewable generation, ensuring a stable and resilient power supply. Such systems can provide consistent, cost-effective clean electricity year-round. While recent innovations have focused on shorter-term battery storage, attention is now shifting towards hydrogen for long-duration energy storage, which offers an intriguing longer-term solution.
Hydrogen-based Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES)
Hydrogen LDES involves using hydrogen as a medium to store energy for extended periods, which can then be used to power EV charging stations, among other uses.
Renewable energy sources like solar or wind are used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen in a process known as electrolysis. The produced “green” hydrogen (i.e. produced with zero carbon emissions) can be stored for long periods in tanks or underground facilities without significant losses. When energy is needed, hydrogen can be converted back into electricity using fuel cells, which can then be used to power EV charging stations.
Hydrogen LDES provides a stable and reliable energy supply, ensuring that EV charging stations have access to power even when renewable energy sources like solar or wind fluctuate daily or seasonally. For example, in northern latitudes where solar is very effective in the sunny summer but less so in the dark winter, hydrogen LDES could store vast amounts of solar energy as hydrogen – for any length of time – to distribute as electricity throughout winter.
Also, because EV charging often leads to peak load demand on the electrical grid, hydrogen LDES can supply additional energy during peak periods, reducing strain on the grid and avoiding the need for expensive grid upgrades.
While batteries excel in grid-connected applications and energy arbitrage, hydrogen technology opens up possibilities in areas where traditional solutions face limitations. As a storage medium, hydrogen enables easier deployment of EV charging stations in remote or off-grid locations where traditional grid connections are not feasible. Expanding EV charging coverage and accessibility and reducing “range anxiety” will become increasingly important as business and freight/logistics fleets transition to electric.
Hydrogen storage systems can also be scaled to meet varying energy demands by daisy-chaining additional hydrogen tanks to existing setups. This flexibility allows for a more adaptive and resilient EV charging network that can grow with the increasing number of electric vehicles — and opens doors for local microgrids.
However, there are also challenges with hydrogen LDES: the process of electrolysis, storage, and reconversion to electricity inherently involves efficiency losses. In many grid-connected cases, batteries will be a more efficient and cost-effective storage medium. In addition, building the infrastructure for hydrogen production, storage, and distribution requires more investment and coordination among stakeholders than traditional battery systems. And because hydrogen is highly flammable, handling it safely requires stringent safety measures in accordance with local regulations.
To address these obstacles, HyWatts has developed an innovative Power-Plant-in-a-Box™ which combines solar generation and hydrogen LDES into a single system to provide continuous onsite renewable energy. Its key innovation is a “reversible” high-temperature proton exchange membrane (HTPEM) hydrogen fuel cell that integrates the functionalities of an electrolyzer and a fuel cell into a singular, efficient unit and utilizes hydrogen as the energy storage medium to create and store energy at a fraction of the cost of battery systems.
The integration of solar power generation, electrolyzer, and fuel cell not only simplifies the infrastructure required for hydrogen production and electricity generation but also significantly cuts capital expenditures by up to 50% compared to conventional hydrogen technologies, and more so against existing lithium-ion
setups. For example, equipping a partially grid-connected station with the capacity to support 20 360kW and 20 180kW DC chargers for trucks and cars with battery storage would entail a cost of around $47 million, compared to $31 million for a HyWatts system. Similarly, the cost per kilowatt-hour would be $0.18 for batteries, compared with $0.11 for HyWatts’ hydrogen-based solution.
As EV adoption surges, the pressure on our energy grid is intensifying. Hydrogen long-duration energy storage could be a game-changer, offering a stable power supply for EV charging even when renewables falter. By storing green hydrogen and converting it back into electricity, we can mitigate peak load demands and expand EV infrastructure into remote areas. Despite the efficiency losses and upfront infrastructure costs associated with hydrogen LDES, innovations like HyWatts’ integrated solar and hydrogen system could make this a cost-effective reality. To support millions of new EVs and a sustainable future, embracing hydrogen LDES is crucial. It’s time to get serious about it.
Dr. Alex Ivanenko, Founder of HyWatts
