The German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and energy supplier EWE announced on Thursday the successful completion of a test demonstrating that hydrogen can be safely stored in an underground cavern. This significant advancement is part of the HyCAVmobil project, which also confirmed that the purity of hydrogen decreases only minimally during storage—an essential factor for its application in the mobility sector.
Project Details
The test took place in a newly constructed cavern in Ruedersdorf, located east of Berlin. The cavern, approximately 1,000 meters deep and roughly the size of a single-family house, was developed by EWE at its gas storage site. Operations began in 2023, with favorable initial test results reported in May 2024. As part of the HyCAVmobil project, DLR established a new laboratory at its Oldenburg site to assess the quality and purity of stored hydrogen.
The HyCAVmobil project had a total investment volume exceeding EUR 14 million (approximately USD 14.8 million), with nearly EUR 8 million funded by EWE and about EUR 6.5 million contributed by the Ministry of Transport.
Future Plans and Insights
EWE plans to apply the insights gained from this 500-cubic-meter test cavern to larger caverns with a capacity 1,000 times greater. However, the purity findings from the HyCAVmobil project apply specifically to newly built caverns. Consequently, EWE is repurposing a natural gas cavern for hydrogen storage at its Huntorf site, where it will study the quality of the green fuel derived from previously stored natural gas.
“Our goal is to establish large-scale salt caverns for hydrogen storage,” stated Stefan Dohler, CEO of EWE. He emphasized that EWE currently operates 37 salt caverns, representing over 15% of all German cavern storage facilities suitable for hydrogen storage.
In addition to converting existing caverns, EWE is evaluating the construction of new facilities in Ruedersdorf, aiming to connect the site to the hydrogen core network being developed throughout Germany.
Sources
- German Aerospace Centre (DLR) – Hydrogen Storage Project Announcement
- EWE – HyCAVmobil Project Details
- Ministry of Transport – Funding Information
