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CostingHydrogen

Large compressed H2 Storage

Screens compressed hydrogen storage volume and total cost impacts alongside electrolyser electricity use and levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH).

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alexi

I do low-carbon energy stuff for 10 years & build things I wish existed.

1

Inputs

Deliverable H2 between max and min pressure (excluding cushion gas).

min 1 · max 2000 · step 1 · kg

Maximum hydrogen mass per storage tank (modularization). Used to determine number of tanks and adapt BoP costing.

Minimum absolute pressure defining the end of discharge (cushion gas remains). Must be lower than maximum pressure. Options follow the provided density table at 15°C.

Maximum absolute pressure defining the end of charge. Must be higher than minimum pressure. Default set to 300 bar(a) because the provided density table does not include 350 bar(a).

Results

Required storage volume

Geometric volume needed to deliver useful storage between min/max pressure (15°C densities)

…m3

Dead storage (cushion gas)

Hydrogen remaining at minimum pressure

…kg

Total storage at maximum pressure

Total H2 inventory at max pressure (useful + dead)

…kg

Total installed CAPEX (storage)

Sum of vessel, BoP, and installation costs

…EUR
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Pressure vessel CAPEX

Cost of pressure vessel (EUR/kg total inventory, power-law curve with scale effect)

…EUR

BoP CAPEX (mutualized)

Cost of balance of plant (partially mutualized across tanks, power-law with scale effect)

…EUR

Installation CAPEX

Cost of installation (EUR/kg total inventory, power-law curve with scale effect)

…EUR

Levelized cost of hydrogen (storage only)

Levelized cost based on annualized CAPEX and annual H2 throughput

…EUR/kg

About

Calculator context

Introduction

This calculator estimates compressed hydrogen storage tank sizing (volume, dead gas, total stored gas) between a user-selected minimum and maximum pressure, and combines this with a screening-level electrolyser cost and energy model to produce total annual cost and levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH). It is intended for early-stage project development (global scope; adjust key prices and financing to your region).

Methodology

The model couples (i) electrolyser production and costing with (ii) storage sizing using a pressure-dependent hydrogen density lookup at 15°C.

Key calculations:

  • Electrolyser annual operation
    • Annual operating hours = hours_per_year * capacity_factor
    • Annual electricity (kWh/yr) = electrolyser_capacity_kW * annual_operating_hours
    • Technology choice via select: AEL (1) vs PEM (2).
  • Specific energy consumption (SEC)
    • SEC_adj (kWh/kg) = SEC_base_tech * part_load_penalty_factor
    • part_load_penalty_factor = clamp(1 + k_pl*(1 - capacity_factor), min, max)
    • Annual H2 (kg/yr) = annual_electricity_kWh / SEC_adj References: IEA/IRENA/NREL (H2A-style) reporting ranges for SEC and typical performance.
  • Storage sizing using density lookup (15°C)
    • ρ_min = lookup(pressure_min)
    • ρ_max = lookup(pressure_max)
    • Δρ = ρ_max − ρ_min
    • Storage volume (m3) = useful_storage_kg / Δρ
    • Dead storage (kg) = storage_volume * ρ_min
    • Total storage at max pressure (kg) = storage_volume * ρ_max Density values are taken from the provided table (consistent with common reference-property datasets such as NIST).
  • Costing and financing (category: costing)
    • specific_capex_scaled (EUR/kW) = clamp(CAPEX_ref_tech * (P/P_ref)^exp, CAPEX_min_tech, CAPEX_max_tech)
    • CRF = (r*(1+r)^n)/((1+r)^n − 1)
    • Annualized CAPEX (EUR/yr) = CAPEX_total * CRF
    • Annual stack replacement (EUR/yr) ≈ electrolyser_CAPEX * stack_fraction * (annual_operating_hours/stack_lifetime_hours)
    • Total annual cost = annualized_capex + fixed_O&M + electricity_cost + stack_replacement
    • LCOH (EUR/kg) = total_annual_cost / annual_H2

Applications

  • Business developer / origination: compare LCOH sensitivity to electricity price and capacity factor while ensuring the storage tank volume is feasible for the desired pressure swing.
  • Pre-FEED screening engineer: estimate dead vs useful inventory and tank sizing to inform plot plan and storage technology selection.
  • Project finance / commercial: stress-test annualized cost and LCOH against discount rate, lifetime, and CAPEX assumptions using standard CRF methodology.

Model

68 variables — inputs, calculations and outputs, with their dependencies.

68 variables shown of 68
VariableValueUnitDepends on
100kg—
1bar_abs—
250bar_abs—
500kg—
VariableFormulaUnitDepends on
if((<)+(<=)+((((==)+(==)+(==)+(==)+(==)+(==))==))+((((==)+(==)+(==)+(==)+(==)+(==)+(==)+(==)+(==))==))+(<)+(<=),1,0)bool
if(==,,if(==,,if(==,,if(==,,if(==,,if(==,,))))))kg/m3
if(==,,if(==,,if(==,,if(==,,if(==,,if(==,,if(==,,if(==,,if(==,,)))))))))kg/m3
0——
-kg/m3
kg
clamp( * ( / max(,))^, , )EUR/kg
* ( ^ )EUR/kg
* ( ^ )EUR/kg
* ( ^ )EUR/kg
(*(+)^)/max(((+)^-),)—
VariableFormulaUnitDepends on
if(==1,,/max(,))m3
*kg
*kg
ceil(/max(,))—
**/EUR
**(+(-)*)EUR
**/EUR
++EUR
*EUR/yr
*kg/yr
/max(,)EUR/kg

Assumptions

42 assumptions used in the calculations

  • Prevents division-by-zero and unstable results in denominators (e.g., delta-density).

    Market range Not applicable

    0.000001
    Modeling safeguard

  • Used to avoid inline numeric literals in max/clamp expressions.

    Market range Not applicable

    0
    DSL numeric constant

  • Used to avoid inline numeric literals in penalty and scaling expressions.

    Market range Not applicable

    1
    DSL numeric constant

  • Enumerated pressure option aligned to the provided density table.

    Market range Not applicable

    1bar_abs
    Pressure table key

  • Enumerated pressure option aligned to the provided density table.

    Market range Not applicable

    2bar_abs
    Pressure table key

  • Enumerated pressure option aligned to the provided density table.

    Market range Not applicable

    5bar_abs
    Pressure table key

  • Enumerated pressure option aligned to the provided density table.

    Market range Not applicable

    15bar_abs
    Pressure table key

  • Enumerated pressure option aligned to the provided density table.

    Market range Not applicable

    30bar_abs
    Pressure table key

  • Enumerated pressure option aligned to the provided density table.

    Market range Not applicable

    100bar_abs
    Pressure table key

  • Enumerated pressure option aligned to the provided density table.

    Market range Not applicable

    150bar_abs
    Pressure table key

  • Enumerated pressure option aligned to the provided density table.

    Market range Not applicable

    200bar_abs
    Pressure table key

  • Enumerated pressure option aligned to the provided density table.

    Market range Not applicable

    250bar_abs
    Pressure table key

  • Enumerated pressure option aligned to the provided density table.

    Market range Not applicable

    300bar_abs
    Pressure table key

  • Enumerated pressure option aligned to the provided density table.

    Market range Not applicable

    500bar_abs
    Pressure table key

  • Enumerated pressure option aligned to the provided density table.

    Market range Not applicable

    900bar_abs
    Pressure table key

  • Density used to compute inventory at selected pressures for storage sizing.

    Market range Table-defined

    0.084kg/m3
    Provided H2 density lookup at 15°C

  • Density used to compute inventory at selected pressures for storage sizing.

    Market range Table-defined

    0.168kg/m3
    Provided H2 density lookup at 15°C

  • Density used to compute inventory at selected pressures for storage sizing.

    Market range Table-defined

    0.419kg/m3
    Provided H2 density lookup at 15°C

  • Density used to compute inventory at selected pressures for storage sizing.

    Market range Table-defined

    1.251kg/m3
    Provided H2 density lookup at 15°C

  • Density used to compute inventory at selected pressures for storage sizing.

    Market range Table-defined

    2.479kg/m3
    Provided H2 density lookup at 15°C

  • Density used to compute inventory at selected pressures for storage sizing.

    Market range Table-defined

    7.926kg/m3
    Provided H2 density lookup at 15°C

  • Density used to compute inventory at selected pressures for storage sizing.

    Market range Table-defined

    11.54kg/m3
    Provided H2 density lookup at 15°C

  • Density used to compute inventory at selected pressures for storage sizing.

    Market range Table-defined

    14.939kg/m3
    Provided H2 density lookup at 15°C

  • Density used to compute inventory at selected pressures for storage sizing.

    Market range Table-defined

    18.138kg/m3
    Provided H2 density lookup at 15°C

  • Density used to compute inventory at selected pressures for storage sizing.

    Market range Table-defined

    21.151kg/m3
    Provided H2 density lookup at 15°C

  • Density used to compute inventory at selected pressures for storage sizing.

    Market range Table-defined

    31.632kg/m3
    Provided H2 density lookup at 15°C

  • Density used to compute inventory at selected pressures for storage sizing.

    Market range Table-defined

    47.277kg/m3
    Provided H2 density lookup at 15°C

  • Used for CRF calculation.

    0.08
    Costing assumption

  • Used for CRF calculation.

    20yr
    Costing assumption

  • Used to estimate annual H2 throughput for LCOH.

    350
    Operational assumption

  • Power-law cost curve coefficient for vessel CAPEX, reflecting scale effect.

    0.9EUR/kg
    Cost curve assumption (scale effect)

  • Power-law cost curve exponent for vessel CAPEX, reflecting scale effect.

    0.65
    Cost curve assumption (scale effect)

  • Power-law cost curve coefficient for BoP CAPEX.

    50EUR/kg
    Cost curve assumption

  • Power-law cost curve exponent for BoP CAPEX.

    0.5
    Cost curve assumption

  • Power-law cost curve coefficient for installation CAPEX, reflecting scale effect.

    0.2EUR/kg
    Cost curve assumption (scale effect)

  • Power-law cost curve exponent for installation CAPEX, reflecting scale effect.

    0.5
    Cost curve assumption (scale effect)

  • Fraction of BoP cost that is mutualized (not scaling with number of tanks).

    0.5
    Modularization assumption

  • Reference CAPEX for scale effect calculation.

    1000EUR/kg
    Cost curve assumption (scale effect)

  • Reference scale for CAPEX scaling.

    1000kg
    Cost curve assumption (scale effect)

  • Exponent for scale effect in CAPEX scaling.

    0.7
    Cost curve assumption (scale effect)

  • Minimum CAPEX for screening.

    200EUR/kg
    Cost curve assumption (scale effect)

  • Maximum CAPEX for screening.

    3000EUR/kg
    Cost curve assumption (scale effect)