The FrHyGe project, which is being led by a consortium of 17 European partners, is dedicated to the underground storage of hydrogen in salt caverns on an industrial scale. With a demonstrator in Manosque, France, and a replication study in Harsefeld, Germany, the project plans to set new standards in hydrogen technology and contribute to the creation of a European hydrogen network.
Storengy, a subsidiary of the French energy supply group Engie, is coordinating the project, which was launched on 1 March 2024. A further 16 partners from France, Germany and Spain are also involved in the project. Together, they want to carry out technical, economic, regulatory, environmental and safety studies on hydrogen storage as part of the project. In the long term, they want to contribute to the creation of a European hydrogen storage and transport network.
According to Storengy, the Manosque site will enable the FrHyGe project to utilise two neighbouring salt caverns. In this way, they want to carry out 100 hydrogen storage cycles and thus "raise the state of the art in underground hydrogen storage to an unprecedented level".
The four project objectives
- conversion of a natural gas (or brine) salt cavern for hydrogen storage
- to demonstrate the feasibility of injecting and withdrawing 100 tonnes of hydrogen over cycles of 1 hour to 1 week in the converted caverns at the Manosque site
- analysing market penetration, the value chain and preparing for replication at other sites in France, Germany and throughout Europe
- evaluation of the environmental impact, safety and regulations in preparation for deployment on the GeoH2 (Manosque) and SaltHy (Harsefeld) projects
Timetable
2024-2025: Studies and analyses for the implementation of the demonstrator at the Manosque site and the replicability of the technology at the SaltHy site (Harsefeld, Germany)
2026-2027: Construction period
2027-2029:
- 100 injections and withdrawals from two caverns at the Géométhane site in Manosque
- Studies and analyses of hydrogen reactions as a function of the pressures to which it is exposed
- Comparison of predictions with theoretical results. In the commercial operating phase, the two caverns in Manosque will store 6,000 tonnes of hydrogen. A storage capacity of 5,200 tonnes is planned for Harsefeld.
