German utility EWE is constructing a pilot project to test the safety of storing pure hydrogen in underground salt caverns with a view to deployment on a large scale as production of the gas ramps up. 

EWE is working with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) on the project, which is expected to cost around €10mn ($11.9mn), of which EWE is providing €4mn. 

Findings from the project could be transferred to large cavern storage facilities, according to EWE hydrogen specialist Paul Schneider.

“This would mean that large quantities of green hydrogen generated from renewable energies could be stored and used as needed,” he says.

The rock salt layer at the storage site in Brandenburg, Germany begins at a depth of around 600m and extends to 3,200m below the surface. Engineers at the project have already installed 160 steel pipes to a depth of 1,000m at the site.In the next few months, EWE will undertake further final modifications to the storage cavern, which will have a volume of 500m³.  

EWE hopes to use the knowledge gained from the pilot project to develop caverns with up to 500,000m³ of storage.The utility and DLR have receive financial support from the National Innovation Program for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology, which is funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure.

EWE has been storing natural gas in salt rock caverns since 2007.

“With 37 salt caverns, we have over 15pc of all German cavern storage facilities that could be suitable for storing hydrogen in the future and would therefore be an important basis for achieving climate targets,” says Schneider.

Germany has a plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and aims hit 5GW of installed hydrogen capacity by 2030.

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Author: Stuart Penson