Roadmap released to unlock underground hydrogen storage

H2eart for Europe, an alliance of European storage system operators, has released a roadmap for the deployment of underground hydrogen storage (UHS), which they say will be critical for balancing the intermittency of renewable energy on the power grid.

The roadmap from H2eart for Europe, an EU-wide, CEO-led alliance of 12 storage system operators, contains a proposal for a series of measures needed to unlock the successful and timely investment decisions for the development of European UHS, which the Alliance says stands out due to its scalability, safety and potential to leverage existing infrastructure.

Unlocking underground hydrogen storage

Listed under three key areas – policy and regulation, economics, and implementation – the alliance lists several steps to unlock UHS, which they state still suffers from long development times of five to ten years, despite a 36TWh hydrogen storage gap in the EU.

In terms of policy, the alliance calls for the development of long-term clarity on preferred tariff methodology, citing the transition of third-party-access storage regime from negotiated (nTPA) to regulated (rTPA) by 2032.

Additionally, they state that UHS should be incorporated across network plans for H2, gas and electricity, permitting processes need to be streamlined, UHS projects should be granted priority, and EU-wide H2 purity standards need to be discussed to provide investment security for purification-related infrastructure.

In terms of economics, H2eart for Europe calls for the development of an EU-level toolbox that can allow Member States to construct UHS financial support mechanisms.

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Additionally, they state that financial support needs to be designed and implemented at the Member State level to bridge the gap between developed and developing markets, and financial support for UHS should be granted from EU funds.

Finally, in terms of ambitious UHS project implementation, the alliance calls for site-specific screening processes to determine suitability for UHS.

In their roadmap, H2eart for Europe adds that lessons need to be referenced from pilot projects to simplify and standardise permitting procedures in a bottom-up approach and that coordination needs to be provided for nation-wide market consultation processes and Open Seasons.

Launched in Brussels, Belgium, on 23 January 2024, H2eart for Europe aims to provide fact-based reports and analysis that can serve policymakers as a guide to investing in scaling up UHS infrastructure to meet the flexibility demand in a decarbonised energy system.

H2eart for Europe members include EWE, Gasunie, HGS, NAFTA, OMV, RAG-Energy-Storage, RWE, SNAM, Storengy, Terēga, Uniper and VNG Gasspericher.