Shell Hydrogen, Hydro-Québec (HQ) and Gesellschaft für Elektrometallurgie (GfE) have announced plans to establish a joint venture for developing, manufacturing and marketing hydrogen storage products. Shell Hydrogen, HQ and GfE are pursuing commercial discussions regarding the proposed venture, which would be involved in the complete value chain from development through to sale of hydride-based storage materials and devices. The companies signed a memorandum of understanding late last year. The partners are convinced that metal hydrides will provide the best means of safely and reliably storing hydrogen. Metal hydrides work by “trapping” the hydrogen inside a metal alloy: the storage is particularly safe because the hydrogen atoms are bonded to the metal.
