(Krummhörn / Germany) – Energy supplier Uniper SE has commissioned a hydrogen storage facility in Krummhörn, Lower Saxony, near Emden. The demonstration plant, "Hydrogen Pilot Cavern" (HPC), has a geometric volume of approximately 3.000 cubic meters and a total storage capacity of nearly 500.000 standard cubic meters of green hydrogen. Testing will begin with a gas tightness test on September 24, 2024.
Symbolic start of H2 storage at the cavern site in Krummhörn in the presence of representatives from politics, business and science. © Uniper / Andreas Burmann
The next step will be the initial filling and, next year, the operation of the demonstration plant with various injection and withdrawal cycles. During the entire project period, equipment and materials will be tested for hydrogen compatibility in a real environment and experience will be gained with regard to the quality of the withdrawn hydrogen, thermodynamics and rock mechanics.
Additional technical components will be installed on the company premises, such as a test facility that will make it possible to "determine the gas quality in various realistic storage and withdrawal scenarios and to test process technologies for processing the hydrogen". The energy source will be analyzed "in order to determine possible changes during the storage phase in the cavern".
The demonstration plant “Hydrogen Pilot Cavern” (HPC) has a geometric volume of around 3.000 cubic meters and a total storage volume of almost 500.000 standard cubic meters of hydrogen. © Uniper / Andreas Burmann
In a first step, the site will be expanded to a capacity of 250 gigawatt hours. Overall, Uniper Energy Storage plans to develop salt caverns for underground hydrogen storage with a capacity of up to 2030 gigawatt hours by 600. To this end, existing and new sites along the planned hydrogen core network in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia are being examined.
"You can count the number of locations worldwide where hydrogen is stored in caverns on one hand," says Uniper CEO Michael Lewis: "This is where we can gain essential experience that will pave the way for large-scale and commercial hydrogen storage." Uniper will invest a low double-digit million amount in the project. The Lower Saxony Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Climate Protection is supporting the project with 2,37 million euros.
Photo above
The above-ground systems in Krummhörn have been fully installed, and trial operation will begin in September with a gas tightness test. © Uniper / Andreas Burmann
