The FrHyGe project
Full qualification of large-scale underground hydrogen storage in France, and replication of the German model in all European countries.
OBJECTIVES
A large-scale demonstrator for underground hydrogen storage in Europe
FrHyGe aims to validate underground hydrogen storage in salt caverns on an industrial scale.
Project duration: 5 years (from 2024 to 2029)
Budget: €43M of which €20M subsidized by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership
From Manosque to Harsefeld, towards Europe :
The result of the merger of the GeoH2 initiative in Manosque, France, and the SaltHy initiative in Harsefeld, Germany, FrHyGe involves the conversion of two salt caverns at the Manosque site, originally dedicated to natural gas storage, into facilities each capable of storing 3,000 tonnes of pure hydrogen.
A demonstrator will be set up to assess the viability of the technology and its ability to be reproduced at SaltHy's Harsefeld site, in a cavity capable of storing up to 5,200 tonnes of hydrogen. The technology will then be deployed on a European scale.
Four main challenges:
Converting a salt cavern into natural gas (or brine) for hydrogen storage,
Demonstrate the feasibility of injecting and withdrawing 100 tonnes of hydrogen over cycles ranging from 1 hour to 1 week in the converted caverns at the Manosque site,
Study market penetration and the value chain, and prepare for replication at other sites in France and Germany, and then on a European scale,
Assessing the environmental impact, safety and regulations to prepare for deployment on the GeoH2 (Manosque) and SaltHy (Harsefeld) projects.
Seventeen European partners coordinated by Storengy will collaborate to carry out technical, economic, regulatory, environmental and safety studies. They will draw up a roadmap for the rapid deployment of the conversion process and the creation of salt caverns, thus contributing to the establishment of a genuine European hydrogen storage and transport backbone.
Key stages in the project:
OUR ROLE
Capenergies is involved in studying the regional implementation of FrHyGe technology and its market integration within the European hydrogen value chain.
The cluster coordinates communication, project dissemination and exploitation of results.
OUR PARTNERS
Coordinator: Storengy
- Armines
- Artelys
- Axens
- Capenergies
- ECO-MED
- Enagás
- ESK GmbH
- Geomethane
- Geostock
- GRTgaz
- IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN)
- Ineris
- Mines Paris PSL
"The project is supported by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership and its members."