PROJECTS

In Etzel, experts in the H2CAST joint project are investigating whether the local salt domes are suitable for storing large quantities of hydrogen. ©STORAG ETZEL
SALT CAVERNS AS HYDROGEN STORAGE FACILITIES
Energy storage facilities play a central role in security of supply. In Lower Saxony, there are underground salt caverns that have so far been used as oil and gas storage facilities. The joint project H2CAST in Etzel is now investigating whether these can also function as storage facilities for hydrogen and what conversions may be necessary for this. The project is financially supported by the Lower Saxony Ministry for the Environment, Energy, Building and Climate Protection.
News (23.10.2023): Arbeiten zur Umrüstung der Kavernen für die Wasserstoffspeicherung haben planmäßig begonnen
Die Umrüstung der zwei Kavernen hat erfogreich gestartet. „In eine Kaverne wird in die Zugangsbohrung eine Gasspeicherkomplettierung und ein Solependelstrang eingebaut. Zudem wird ein neuer für Wasserstoff geeigneter Kavernenkopf aufgebaut.“ Das Einspeisen von 80 Tonnen H2 soll im Sommer 2024 beginnen, nachdem weitere erfolgreiche Tests abgeschlossen sind. Ab 2026 soll der Standort „H2-Ready“ sein. Mehr Infos hier.
News (02/17/2023): Successful completion of the first leak test with hydrogen at cavern in Etzel
Within the framework of the research project H2CAST has STORAG ETZEL together with project partners successfully completed the first gas tightness test with hydrogen on a cavern borehole.
Extensive material testing was carried out in preparation for the test and during the test phase. In total, the team introduced several thousand standard cubic meters of gaseous hydrogen from sustainable, "green" production into the well. The test period wassignificantly longer, at over two months, than is the case with comparable tightness tests under nitrogen. More
News (01/17/2023): Gasunie becomes partner in the H2CAST Etzel project
As STORAG ETZEL and Gasunie announced on 17.01.2023, Gasunie will become consortium partner in the project "H2CAST Etzel". Within the framework of the project, hydrogen storage in the Etzel salt caverns is to be made possible together with project partners. In a first step, two existing salt caverns will be upgraded for H2 storage and connected by an aboveground facility. Gasunie will be responsible for this aboveground facility. The pilot project is scheduled for completion in 2026.
Gas and oil are stored in so-called caverns at a depth of over 750 metres in the massive Etzel salt dome. These are artificially created cavities in underground mining. The hydrogen research & development project H2CAST Etzel aims to show that these caverns can store not only oil and gas, but also large quantities of hydrogen. The existing caverns will then hold up to 22.5 TWh of hydrogen. A sophisticated shuttle operation system between two caverns will help to variably adjust the storage volume and the pressure, among other things. The project on an industrial scale could lead the way for many other salt caverns in Europe.
H2CAST is the abbreviation for H2 Cavern Storage Transition, and stands for the conversion of existing caverns and facilities for the storage of hydrogen.
H2CAST Etzel Project Team
- STORAG ETZEL (supplier of cavern storage facilities)
STORAG ETZEL builds, maintains and leases underground storage capacity for gas and oil at the Etzel site in East Frisia. Tenants are national and European oil storage organisations and international companies from the energy sector. Among other things, a large part of the German crude oil reserve is stored in Etzel.
- Gasunie (responsible for the surface plant)
Gasunie is a European energy infrastructure company. Gasunie's network is one of the largest high-pressure pipeline networks in Europe, comprising over 17,000 kilometers of pipelines in the Netherlands and northern Germany. With its cross-border gas infrastructure and services, Gasunie enables the TTF, which has become the leading European gas trading point. Gasunie also offers other gas infrastructure services, including gas storage and LNG.
- KBB (planning, construction and operation of underground storage facilities)
DEEP.KBB is significantly involved in the planning, construction and operation of underground storage facilities in the salt for the storage of natural gas, mineral oil, gas and oil products as well as the storage of renewable energies, in particular compressed air and hydrogen. Main focus: Geology, rock mechanics, drilling and completion engineering, thermodynamics, brine engineering, tightness testing, cavern flooding, gas filling and reservoir engineering.
- DLR - Institute for Networked Energy Systems
The Institute for Networked Energy Systems joined the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in June 2017. The primary research goal of the three scientific departments Urban and Building Technologies, Energy Systems Engineering and Energy Systems Analysis is the development of technologies and concepts to shape the energy transition.
- Hartmann Valves
Hartmann Valves is a supplier of special ball valves, wellheads and related service and testing, including solutions for applications and underground storage of hydrogen.
- Clausthal University of Technology
The Chair of Geomechanics and Multi-Physical Systems at Clausthal University of Technology is concerned with the stability and tightness of salt caverns for the storage of energy raw materials such as natural gas and crude oil, for compressed air storage and for brine extraction. For the performance of its tasks in research and teaching, the chair has an extensively equipped laboratory (currently 25 rock mechanical testing facilities), a powerful computer pool and various numerical programme systems.
- SOCON
SOCON Sonar Control Cavern Surveying specialises in the geophysical survey of caverns, boreholes and underground cavities.