What is LOHC Storage?

Hydrogen is central to the global clean energy transition, with its ability to decarbonize sectors ranging from transportation to heavy industries. However, efficient hydrogen storage remains a key challenge, and Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHCs) have emerged as a promising solution due to their ability to store and transport hydrogen safely using largely existing infrastructure. This article covers how LOHCs work, compares them with other storage technologies, and looks at where real-world LOHC infrastructure actually stands today.

Understanding LOHCs

LOHCs are organic compounds that chemically bond with hydrogen, creating a reversible system for hydrogen storage and transport. During hydrogenation, hydrogen reacts with the LOHC at high temperatures in the presence of a catalyst, becoming chemically bonded. The hydrogen is released through a reverse process called dehydrogenation when needed.

Key features of LOHC storage include safety (non-toxic, non-flammable, and remaining liquid at ambient temperature and pressure, making them safer than high-pressure or cryogenic storage), infrastructure compatibility (leveraging existing fossil fuel transport infrastructure like tankers and pipelines, reducing the need for specialized hydrogen logistics), and reusability (the carrier can be reused across many cycles once dehydrogenated).

Comparing LOHC with Other Storage Technologies

LOHC storage differs from pressurized hydrogen storage and metal hydride storage across several dimensions: safety profile, infrastructure requirements, energy density, and reusability. LOHCs stand out for operating at ambient pressure and temperature, unlike pressurized gas storage which requires high-pressure vessels, and for being fully reusable across many cycles, unlike some metal hydride systems which can degrade over repeated cycling. The trade-off is that LOHCs require dedicated hydrogenation and dehydrogenation infrastructure at both ends of the supply chain, and the energy cost of these chemical conversion steps is higher than the energy penalty for compressed gas storage.

Real-World Development: LOHC Import Infrastructure in the Netherlands

Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies, a German company and market leader in LOHC technology, has been working with major Dutch ports to develop large-scale LOHC-based hydrogen import infrastructure using dibenzyltoluene as the carrier molecule.

In partnership with tank storage company Evos and the Port of Amsterdam, Hydrogenious signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop large-scale hydrogen import facilities. The planned infrastructure includes an LOHC dehydrogenation plant designed for a release capacity of up to 100 to 500 tonnes of hydrogen per day, alongside related storage and handling facilities, with the Evos Amsterdam terminals needing only relatively minor modifications to store and distribute LOHC given their existing liquid storage infrastructure. This facility is targeted to become operational before 2028, so it remains a planned development rather than a completed, operating system today.

Separately, Hydrogenious has also partnered with Verbund AG to develop a hydrogen supply chain along the Danube, and with Royal Vopak on hydrogen import work connected to the Port of Rotterdam's broader hydrogen plan, importing solar-derived green hydrogen from Spain into the Netherlands, since solar generation costs are lower there.

Taken together, these partnerships show LOHC infrastructure moving from concept to funded, planned development at real ports, using largely existing tank storage infrastructure, though full commercial-scale operation is still a few years out rather than an established, running system today.

Advantages of LOHC Technology

LOHCs offer genuine scalability for large-scale hydrogen storage and transport, a factor critical for expanding global hydrogen economies. Unlike pressurized or metal hydride systems, they don't suffer from hydrogen leakage or degradation over long storage periods, making them well suited to extended storage. By leveraging existing liquid fuel infrastructure, LOHCs avoid much of the high upfront cost of building entirely new hydrogen logistics networks, and their non-flammable, stable nature suits diverse applications from grid energy storage to international hydrogen trade.

Challenges and Future Developments

LOHC technology faces real challenges. Hydrogenation and dehydrogenation processes require high temperatures and catalysts, increasing energy demand, and developing cost-effective, efficient catalysts remains an ongoing priority. Gravimetric efficiency is also a genuine limitation, since the weight of the carrier itself limits LOHC's suitability for mobile applications like fuel cell vehicles, where compressed gas or self-humidified fuel cell systems generally make more sense.

Researchers are focused on improving LOHC efficiency, developing new carrier compounds with higher hydrogen densities, and integrating renewable energy sources to power the hydrogenation process itself.

The Way Ahead

Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers are a genuinely promising approach to hydrogen storage and transport, addressing real limitations of pressurized and metal hydride methods through ambient-condition handling and infrastructure reuse. Real, funded development at Dutch ports shows the technology moving from lab concept toward commercial deployment, even though full operational scale remains a few years away. As hydrogenation and dehydrogenation processes continue to improve, LOHC technology is well positioned to play a meaningful role in the international hydrogen trade this decade.