The company has launched a demonstration project at its Immingham terminal (UK) that has secured more than half a million pounds in grant funding from the UK Government. Exolum will physically transport and store commercial-scale volumes of H₂, in a liquid form as LOHCs, in its existing pipeline and tank storage infrastructure, and carry out testing to confirm its compatibility. The project will unlock the wider roll-out across Exolum’s network, offering a vital bulk H₂ storage and logistics service to the H₂ sector ahead of alternative options.

Exolum will be the first company in the world to physically transport and store H₂ through liquid organic H₂ carriers (LOHCs) in commercial-scale, repurposed oil pipeline and tank storage infrastructure. Exolum and its project partners have secured the support of the UK Government, through public funding of £505,000 via Innovate UK, to carry out this innovative project at Exolum’s Immingham terminal in the Humber region. This is a major milestone in the company’s decarbonization and diversification strategy, one of the objectives of which is to promote the development of H₂ as an energy vector.

LOHCs are oil-like compounds that can absorb and release H₂ through chemical reactions, and therefore, LOHCs can be used as storage and transport medium for H₂. Previous projects have technically proven the processes required to attach and release H₂ from LOHCs. Through this project, Exolum and its partners will demonstrate the only step in the LOHC process which has yet to be technically proven and demonstrated – its transport and storage in existing repurposed oil infrastructure.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2024 and will store and transport 400 m³ of LOHC, carrying around 20,000 kg of H₂ (enough to drive a H₂ passenger car around 2 MM km), between the Immingham East and Immingham West facilities via a 1.5 km pipeline. Laboratory testing will take place to confirm that the LOHC quality is maintained.

This project will allow Exolum to gain valuable information and insights into using its infrastructure for the transport and storage of LOHCs, a major step forward in the development and research of new storage and distribution technologies for new energy carriers, as well as a natural extension of its service offering.

Exolum’s infrastructure can already store and distribute multiple liquid products, so this offering is scalable and adaptable to support growth in market demand. The viability of this project will support the first H₂ projects in the UK, making the crucial service of large-scale H₂ storage and distribution available ahead of alternative options.

In addition to Exolum, as transport and storage infrastructure partner, this project involves Axiom, a British award-winning, multi-discipline engineering consultancy business who will design and manage the laboratory testing.

Felix Gomez, Technology and Innovation Lead said, “At Exolum we are constantly working to accelerate the energy transition through the development of new logistics solutions for the energy carriers of the future. This project is a clear example of this and highlights the high potential of using existing energy infrastructure for new energy carriers.” Furthermore, Andres Suarez, Global Strategy & Growth Lead added that “Exolum has one of the most efficient and modern logistics system in the world, so its possibilities of use in the new energy transition scenario are highly realistic and have the potential to be game-changing.”