An open-source tool for the calculation of field deliverability and cushion-gas requirements in volumetric gas-reservoir storage sites

Abstract Regional estimates of hydrogen storage capacities in porous rocks currently rely on uncertain assumptions of cushion-gas requirements. This paper describes an open-source tool developed in Python that estimates the cushion- and working-gas capacities, and calculates flow rates and energy flows from volumetric gas reservoirs using basic reservoir data. The tool is validated against data from four real fields: Cousland (UK), Grijpskerk (The Netherlands), Hatfield Moors (UK) and Rough (UK). The results show that the cushion-gas requirement is dependent on several factors including the number of wells and the well diameter, and the plateau rate. A very basic economics model also indicates that drilling more wells could result in lower total costs.