Battery technology is a great way of reducing on-site emissions for low-power, lightweight uses. But for a battery to be usable, it must be recharged. For off-grid applications where high energy output is required, a pure battery solution with enough capacity will prove too bulky and expensive, and would also need to be transported off site to be recharged. The long charging time between uses also means batteries are not practical for assets that are highly utilised. So while batteries, on their own, can be useful for lower-power, less continuously utilised assets, hydrogen is much better suited for use cases where diesel has traditionally been employed – off grid, high-power, high-utilisation applications.

Best of both worlds

The reality is both technologies have their benefits: continuous power supply from hydrogen and manoeuvrability of compact battery units. Hydrologiq sees the future clean off-grid site being powered by a combination of both hydrogen and batteries. Read more about our Smart Hydrogen & BESS Hub-and-Spoke Model.