Patrizia SE, the parent company of storage operator Storag Etzel, and Gasunie have concluded an option agreement for the storage of hydrogen. The Dutch gas network operator plans to store hydrogen in the multi-chamber storage facility of the "H2Cast Etzel" project. The first phase of project development is now set to begin.
The "option contracts" now agreed include the storage of up to one TWh of hydrogen, Augsburg-based Patrizia SE said on Tuesday (20.02.). They expand the cooperation between Storag Etzel and Gasunie that has existed since the start of the H2Cast Etzel project in 2022. According to the companies, this is one of the largest hydrogen storage projects in Europe.
According to Heiko Süß, Head of PATRIZIA Fund Management Frankfurt, the cooperation is essential for proving the hydrogen suitability of the storage caverns belonging to Patrizia SE. The aim is to demonstrate how the transition to renewable energies in Germany can be "safely designed". The cavern field in Etzel could become an "important component of the future hydrogen energy economy".
Several German energy suppliers are currently preparing for the large-scale storage of hydrogen. Uniper Energy Storage, for example, recently announced its goal of offering 600 TWh of storage capacity by 2030. EWE Gasspeicher GmbH completed an initial demand survey at the end of November. Storag Etzel, meanwhile, is one of the first companies to have already concluded a contract for storage.
Two of 75 caverns for H2 storage
The Etzel salt dome comprises seventy-five caverns in operation, in which 3.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 10 million cubic meters of crude oil can currently be stored. In the "H2CAST Etzel" pilot project, Storag Etzel is converting two caverns into hydrogen storage facilities.
The construction of an above-ground facility and the subsequent test and research phase should be completed by the end of 2026. The preparatory tests are to take place under real conditions. According to the operator, they include the injection and withdrawal of hydrogen in multi-cyclic operation, the processing of the hydrogen gas and proof of the integrity of the storage facility.
The project is being funded by the federal government and the state government of Lower Saxony with a low double-digit million euro sum. According to the operator, the funding amount corresponds to more than a third of the total costs.
Etzel cavern field: connection to the core network planned
Patrizia launched two cavern funds in 2013 and 2018. In its press release, the real estate investment provider highlighted the possibility that the cavern field in Etzel could be converted into a complete hydrogen storage facility by 2050.
The storage of hydrogen on an industrial scale is considered a basic prerequisite for the industrial hydrogen ramp-up. The German government's power plant strategy announced at the beginning of the month will further increase the demand for hydrogen storage. It envisages the construction of up to 10 GW of hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plant capacity. The cavern field in the Etzel salt dome could contribute to meeting this demand, also because a connection of the storage facility to the hydrogen core network is planned.
According to owner Patrizia SE, an average natural gas cavern in Etzel is around 0.7 million m³ in size and can store around one TWh of energy. This would be enough to supply 100,000 households with heat and hot water for a year. Due to the lower calorific value of hydrogen, the required storage volume is four times higher than for natural gas.
