The transition to a low-carbon economy requires infrastructure capable of managing renewable surpluses and ensuring a continuous supply to industry. However, hydrogen, despite its potential as an energy carrier, still lacks mature infrastructure for large-scale storage. This absence limits the efficient integration of renewable production and industrial demand, and poses significant challenges in terms of safety, integrity and durability of the materials in contact with the gas.
Salt caverns are emerging as one of the most promising alternatives for storing large volumes of hydrogen safely and cost-efficiently.
- Its development requires a deeper understanding of gas behavior in these geological formations, improved cavity design, and advancements in materials, tubular systems, and auxiliary facilities specifically adapted to hydrogen.
- Hydrogen can induce phenomena such as embrittlement, permeation, or accelerated degradation in certain steels and alloys. Therefore, it is essential to develop and validate material solutions capable of maintaining their mechanical properties and structural integrity under conditions of pressure, cycling and prolonged exposure.
H2SALT Project
H2SALT Its objective is to overcome these technological and knowledge limitations, still present in Europe, by generating scientific and industrial solutions that will accelerate the development of underground hydrogen storage. TECNALIA It contributes by providing expertise in hydrogen behavior, compatibility and characterization of materials, key elements to guarantee the safety and integrity of these infrastructures.
- The consortium works in a coordinated manner in the development of tailored solutions to the requirements of underground hydrogen storage, including the design of tubular systems, critical components, auxiliary facilities and safe operating strategies.
- The project includes the characterization of various salt formations on the Iberian Peninsula, as well as the conceptual design of caverns and the injection and extraction systems necessary for their operation, integrating from the initial phases advanced criteria for the selection, validation and behavior of materials in the face of hydrogen.
- These advances represent a decisive step towards the future implementation of underground storage facilities that will stabilize the system and position the Basque Country as a European leader in hydrogen-related technologies and in the development of advanced materials for critical infrastructure.
Particiapant enterprises
H2SALT is co-financed by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Facility and the European Union–NextGenerationEU, and has a consortium coordinated by TEAM Ingeniería y Consultoría. Other participating companies include TUBACEX, Tubos Reunidos, Tamoin and Iberdrola, as well as the Basque Energy Cluster and Siderex, in collaboration with IGME–CSIC and TECNALIA.