Recommendations for accelerating hydrogen storage technologies

On 4 March 2024, the Initiative Energien Speichern e.V. (INES) published a collection of proposals to accelerate the development of hydrogen storage systems in Germany. Specific proposals are set out for seven laws and ordinances that will help to shorten the development times for hydrogen storage systems.

Successful implementation of the energy transition requires not only the conversion of existing gas storage facilities to hydrogen, but also extensive new construction of hydrogen storage capacities. Development times for conversion are currently estimated at six and a half to nine and a half years. The development times for new construction could be even longer. In order to be able to cover hydrogen storage requirements in the near future, probably from 2030, it is therefore no longer sufficient to create investment security for private investors. Current and new projects also need to be accelerated in order to successfully implement the energy transition.

For the first time, the INES collection of proposals provides policymakers with a comprehensive set of concrete measures to accelerate hydrogen storage projects. INES thus makes a concrete contribution to concretising the pact “for accelerating planning, approval and implementation” between the federal and state governments of 6 November 2023. As part of the Minister Presidents' Conference (MPK), the federal and state governments decided to bring about fundamental changes so that projects in the field of energy infrastructure, among others, can be realised more quickly and with less bureaucracy. The first results of the implementation work should be available in the first quarter of 2024.