Techno-Economic Analysis of Hydrogen Storage Technologies for Different Real End-Use Demand Profiles and Sites

This work presents a techno-economic analysis of hydrogen storage options—compressed tanks (Type I–IV), Underground Hydrogen Storage (UHS), and Metal Hydrides (MH)—for industrial and Hydrogen Refueling Station (HRS) demand profiles at diverse locations, subject to green-hydrogen emission limits. Hydrogen is generated from renewables (PV + wind) or grid power (if allowed), under site-specific electricity prices and carbon intensities. Different options were compared in terms of Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH), footprint, and GHG emissions. MH configurations address process heat integration via waste-heat recovery, electric heaters, or natural gas boilers—with or without Phase-Change Materials (PCM). The resulting LCOH and Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS) were evaluated, highlighting not only economic competitiveness but also the footprint and weight of the investigated storage solutions. Our findings show that: (i) hybrid off-grid systems (photovoltaic + wind) generally outperform single renewable energy source technology, (ii) UHS offers great advantages where high electricity prices are present, and (iii) for metal hydrides, leveraging on-site waste heat —as well as PCM adoption— reduces external energy needs and leads to competitive hydrogen production costs.