The extraordinary rise of renewables is transforming the global energy sector beyond recognition. But generating this sustainable electricity is one thing… storing and transporting it is another altogether.
This is why hydrogen has a vital role to play in enabling technologies like wind farms and solar power to bring about a zero-carbon future. It provides an effective means of storing surplus renewable energy, both from large-scale generators like offshore wind farms and from small-scale decentralized energy production such as rooftop solar panels.
Hydrogen the enabler
Fully decarbonizing tomorrow’s energy sector depends on switching almost exclusively to renewable energy, which means we will need plenty of storage to overcome intermittency issues, among other things.
As an enabler of the energy transition, hydrogen can boost the use of renewable sources by helping to match demand with supply. Instead of curtailing wind or solar generation when there is excess supply, surplus renewable energy can be used to generate green hydrogen through electrolysis, which can be stored for later use as emissions-free fuel.
From an engineering, business, and physics point of view, hydrogen is expected to be the key technology to allow the large-scale energy storage needed to facilitate the energy transition.
Source: https://spectra.mhi.com/how-hydrogen-helps-all-renewables-great-and-small