But the whole point is that 1) at peak solar times electricity is free (meaning wholly insufficient storage) and 2) the upfront cost of battery storage is rather prohibitive right now, while a hydrogen system is (I'd naively assume) technologically simple.
Where this comes into play is with the repeated calls for new nuclear plants - nobody in their right mind will bet against solar and battery electric storage on a 30 years timescale, and so nobody is building those.
Sure the “electricity” is free or maybe even “paid for use” a couple of short times a year. That doesn’t justify the massive capex investment needed to build a hydrogen plant that would be underutilised 95%+ of the time.
The economics will never get there. You’re railing against battery electric whilst ignoring the even bigger cost of entirely unproven hydrogen. The gas industry wants you to believe this so that we invest in hydrogen usage that for the foreseeable future will be made using gas.
Where this comes into play is with the repeated calls for new nuclear plants - nobody in their right mind will bet against solar and battery electric storage on a 30 years timescale, and so nobody is building those.