Uniper stores hydrogen in former salt dome on a trial basis

Uniper wants to store hydrogen in a former salt dome in Krummhörn in the district of Aurich on a trial basis. The pilot cavern with a volume of 3,000 m³ has been set up with brine technology on an existing borehole and the technology for storage above ground has been installed, the energy company announced. Trial operation is scheduled to begin with a gas tightness test on September 24, 2024.

"With a total storage volume of almost 500,000 standard cubic meters of green hydrogen, the storage facility will be one of the first of its kind," the Uniper press release states. The project still has to be approved first, and operation of the demonstration plant with various injection and withdrawal cycles will begin next year. Uniper wants to test the equipment and materials for hydrogen compatibility and gain experience with the quality of the hydrogen stored, thermodynamics and rock mechanics.

"Ideal geographical location"

Uniper is planning to install a hydrogen test facility on its premises in Krummhörn, which will be used to determine the gas quality under realistic injection and withdrawal scenarios and to test process technologies for processing the hydrogen. The extracted hydrogen will be analyzed in order to determine possible changes during the storage phase in the cavern. In addition, moisture and other possible residues will be removed from the hydrogen to make it available to customers.

Uniper estimates its investment in the project to be in the "low double-digit millions". The Lower Saxony Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Climate Protection is funding the project with 2.375 million euros, it says. The Krummhörn site is ideal because it is not far from Uniper's Wilhelmshaven site. "The geographical location advantageously combines proximity to the windy North Sea and the energy connection to the gas and electricity grid that has been in place for decades and, in future, to the new hydrogen core grid," Uniper explains.

Uniper became known to a wider public in this country during the Ukraine war primarily because of its gas business with Russia. As Russia stopped supplying gas in August 2022, Uniper had to procure expensive replacements for its customers and got into financial difficulties. The federal government invested in the company and saved it from insolvency. In June of this year, an international arbitration court in Stockholm ruled that the Russian company Gazprom must pay Uniper 13 billion euros in damages. Uniper wants to be completely CO₂-neutral by 2040.

(anw)