Germany may have to build storage facilities for up to 41TWh of hydrogen in addition to converting existing sites that hold natural gas, according to a study by industry associations.
Storage operators association INES, oil and gas association BVEG and gas and water industry body DVGW said that although Germany's gas storage capacity is the largest in Europe, it may need to add new facilities to provide sufficient space for hydrogen to play its part in the energy transition.
The associations assume all Germany's 31 cavern storages can be converted to hold hydrogen, which would provide storage capacity of around 30.7TWh. The caverns can hold 163TWh of natural gas, but much less hydrogen because of its lower energy content.
Converting Germany's acquifer storages is more difficult because of geological conditions, and decisions will have to be made on a case-by-case basis whether a facility can hold hydrogen, the associations said. The assumed four of the country's 16 acquifer sites can be converted, which would allow for around 1.7TWh of hydrogen to be stored.
With Germany's economy and climate protection ministry having said the country may need hydrogen capacity of up to 73TWh by 2050, around 41TWh of capacity would have to be provided by new facilities. Based on the average size of existing cavern storage, this would require 40 facilities to be built, the associations said, at a cost of €11bn ($11.7bn) in addition to around €1.6bn for conversions of existing sites.
Even at the lower end of the ministry's projections for required capacity — 47TWh — Germany may need around 15TWh of new space, equivalent to 15 facilities.
The associations identified the use of pyrolysis at acquifer facilities as a potential way to reduce the need for new-built capacity. Acquifer sites could continue to store natural gas or biogas, which is then deployed for hydrogen production through pyrolysis. Required hydrogen storage capacity could be reduced by around 17TWh this way, the associations said. In a scenario where demand for hydrogen storage capacity is 47TWh, construction of new facilities could even be entirely avoided.
The associations expect conversion of facilities could be completed by the mid-2040s, after which new sites could be brought into operation.
INES called on the government to provide strategic and financial support for the planned conversion — and potentially new construction — of storage sites. Storage capacity is barely mentioned so far in Germany's national hydrogen strategy, INES said.
