A major milestone in seasonal storage: hydrogen storage test in an underground gas storage facility proves successful

Hydrogen has attracted considerable attention in recent years, as it could offer a technical solution for the seasonal storage of energy from renewable sources. However, there are many uncertainties surrounding hydrogen: long-term storage in underground facilities has not been common practice, and experience is limited. Austrian underground storage operator RAG has now announced the completion of a trial storage project at its Rubensdorf / Gampern facility. The company managed to store around half a million cubic metres of hydrogen for several months and then withdraw the gas at a high level of purity.

There are still many questions about the use of hydrogen in the energy sector as a medium for storing energy generated from renewable sources. One of them concerns the possibilities for long-term hydrogen storage and the technical and economic challenges of such a solution. This is particularly relevant for solar power plants, where peak generation in summer does not coincide with strong electricity demand in winter. Hydrogen could offer a way to store energy seasonally, although the economic side of the issue must also be addressed alongside the technology.

On the question of seasonal hydrogen storage, Austrian company RAG has now announced the completion of a demonstration project at its storage facility. The trial at the Rubensdorf / Gampern underground hydrogen storage facility, which only opened in 2023, has been completed. According to the company, the results confirm that hydrogen storage in porous structures of former natural gas fields can be scaled up.

The trial involved two injection and withdrawal cycles, and according to the company, the hydrogen withdrawn met the specifications required for potential delivery to hydrogen gas infrastructure. RAG said the facility operated with a level of safety comparable to that of a conventional underground natural gas storage facility.

"With the completion of the final hydrogen storage cycle under the Underground Sun Storage 2030 project, a very successful project by RAG Austria AG has come to an end. For the first time in the world, we have been able to demonstrate that large-scale storage of pure hydrogen in gas storage facilities works in a real-world environment. This allows us to refute claims that this storage technology is not sufficiently mature," said Stephan Bauer, technology lead for the green gas project.