[adwn]

Hydrogen generation isn't the problem, storing it over several months is. Economical, safe, and reliable storage of hydrogen is very much an unsolved engineering challenge. If it weren't, hydrogen storage plants would shoot out of the ground left and right: Even here in Germany, we have such an abundance of solar electricity during the summer months that wind generators have to be turned off and the spot price of electricity still falls to negative values(!) over noon, almost every day.

[defrost]

Why stop at hydrogen for storage and transport;

there's ammonia, methanol, and other derivatives that are easier to store and transport.

eg: * https://www.methanex.com/our-products/about-methanol/marine-...

[adwn]

Yes, those are easier to store, but more expensive and less efficient to generate.

The question is the same as for hydrogen: If it's easy, cheap, and safe to generate, store, and convert back into electricity, why isn't it already being done on a large, commercial scale? The answer is invariably that it's either not easy to scale, too expensive (in terms of upfront costs, maintainance costs, or inefficiencies), or too unsafe, at least today.

[adrianN]

You can store it in salt caverns

[adwn]

If that's so easy, cheap, and safe, why aren't there companies doing it on a large scale already? We're talking about billions of Euros of market volume.