EWE press release
Strausberg, 10 March 2023 : Energy service provider EWE has completed the soling of the hydrogen test cavern in Rüdersdorf near Berlin. It took three months to create the underground cavity with a volume of around 500 cubic metres. This was preceded by extensive, successful leak tests of the supply line to the cavern down to a depth of 1,000 metres. The company had tested the connection between the installed pipe-in-pipe system and the rock for leaks and provided proof that the borehole is tight at the required pressures.
The house-sized cavity is located in an underground salt dome. This layer of rock salt beneath the storage site in Rüdersdorf, where EWE has already built two large cavern storage facilities, begins at a depth of around 600 metres and extends to 3,200 metres below the earth's surface.
Hydrogen arrives in late summer
On Monday, the company will begin erecting a drilling rig. EWE will use this to remove the brine pipes needed to create the cavity and install the technology for the hydrogen test operation in the 1,000 metre long borehole. EWE will then dismantle the drilling rig and set up the temporary operating facility for hydrogen storage above ground. The initial filling with hydrogen and the start of extensive test operations are planned for late summer. The main aim is to test the interplay between the injection and withdrawal of hydrogen.
Transferability to large cavern storage facilities
The aim of the research project, called HyCAVmobil, is to test the quality of the hydrogen after it has been extracted, in addition to operating the facility. According to EWE, a purity of almost 100 per cent is important for future applications, especially in the mobility sector. The findings from the small research cavern are to be transferred to caverns with 1,000 times the volume. In future, caverns with volumes of 500,000 cubic metres could be used for large-scale hydrogen storage. With 37 salt caverns, EWE alone has 15 per cent of all German cavern storage facilities that would be suitable for storing hydrogen in the future. This would mean that green hydrogen produced from renewable energies could be stored in large quantities and utilised as required, making it an indispensable component in achieving climate targets and diversifying and securing the future energy supply.
The investment volume for the HyCAVmobil project totals around ten million euros - four million of which are EWE's own funds. EWE and DLR will receive the remaining sum as funding from the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure as part of the National Innovation Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology.
Media contact: Nadine Auras
Tel.: 03341 / 382 - 103
Mobile: 0162 / 1331144
Mail: nadine.auras@ewe.de
nadine.auras(at)ewe.de