EnBW Secures Contract for Hydrogen Storage in Etzel

The independent provider of cavern storage facilities, STORAG ETZEL GmbH, and the EnBW subsidiary EnBW Etzel Speicher GmbH recently signed a contract for the construction and operation of new hydrogen (H2) cavern storage facilities at the Etzel site.

The agreement provides for the development and long-term operation of large-volume hydrogen storage capacities in several new underground caverns with a geometric volume of over one million cubic meters.

The EnBW subsidiary would also build a new above-ground facility for hydrogen on the STORAG ETZEL site.

EnBW Etzel Speicher GmbH is thus setting the course to expand its involvement at the Etzel site; it is already a long-standing partner of STORAG ETZEL and operator of an above-ground facility for natural gas caverns at the Etzel cavern facility.

The Etzel H2 storage site would be an important strengthening of the H2 infrastructure for the hydrogen supply from the North Sea-Benelux corridor for southwest Germany. “A final investment decision now requires a regulatory and legal framework that enables the hydrogen storage business model. In particular, securing the initial high investments over the long operating period cannot yet be realized on the market in the foreseeable future,” says Peter Bux, Managing Director of EnBW Etzel Speicher GmbH. EnBW refers to the upcoming shaping of the market and investment environment by politicians and regulatory authorities, which must take this into account.

“The Etzel site plays an important role in the H2 market ramp-up in north-western Europe. Together with our site partners, we are working continuously to make the Etzel cavern facility “H2-ready” by 2027,” says Boris Richter, Managing Director of STORAG ETZEL GmbH.

In the long term, this includes both the construction of new caverns and the conversion of existing oil and gas caverns to hydrogen storage. The Etzel cavern facility currently comprises 75 caverns for oil and gas storage. There is potential to expand 24 caverns, some of which have already been partially developed. Two of these caverns are already in test operation for hydrogen storage. A typical cavern in Etzel can have a geometric cavity volume of up to 800,000 m³ due to the very good geology on site. This corresponds to a hydrogen capacity of 200-250 GWh H2 per cavern.

Hydrogen can play a central role in the future energy system, particularly in making industry more sustainable. For a well-functioning hydrogen market, appropriately designed hydrogen storage is of crucial importance. STORAG ETZEL and EnBW want to make a contribution to this important development.

The cavern field in Etzel can become an important part of the future hydrogen energy economy in order to meet the energy needs of a climate-neutral Germany.