Storage caverns

Development of energy storage caverns

Storage of renewable energy 

Energy storage is critical to future energy systems. In addition to existing energy storage in salt caverns, such as for natural gas, the growing supply of solar and wind energy will create a need for more flexibility. It is important to create sufficient energy buffers to keep supply and demand in balance. The storage of hydrogen in salt caverns also supports the stable functioning of a hydrogen backbone. As the energy transition accelerates the need for renewable energy storage, Nobian is uniquely positioned in Northern Europe to enable the transition to a hydrogen economy through the development of energy storage caverns. 

Optimizing the use of renewable energy sources at other times

In the future, different forms of energy storage will be needed to optimize the use of renewable energy sources. For example, there will be long-term storage, such as gas and hydrogen, short-term storage in batteries, and medium-term storage such as compressed air (energy storage by compressing and decompressing air). Hydrogen storage will also be increasingly important to maximize the efficiency of, for example, wind farms, or as a feedstock for industrial processes. 

Energy storage in salt caverns

Salt caverns offer an effective underground storage solution, both technically and economically, with proven feasibility to enable security of supply and balancing of volatility. In addition, the storage of (green and low-carbon) energy sources in onshore salt caverns will play an important strategic role in reducing our dependence on foreign countries for our energy supplies, strengthening our strategic autonomy and making industry more sustainable.


Energy storage projects

Nobian is involved in a number of innovative projects to develop large-scale storage for renewable energy as part of tailor-made agreements with the Dutch government. In Zuidwending, the Netherlands, we have already developed several caverns for natural gas storage for storage operator EnergyStock (Gasunie). We are currently working together with Hystock (Gasunie) to develop similar caverns suitable for hydrogen storage. We are also working with Corre Energy to develop caverns for CAES. Once completed,  Corre Energy will operate the caverns and supply renewable electricity to the market together with Eneco.

In Denmark, Nobian and Gas Storage Denmark have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore potential cooperation in the development of energy storage caverns in Denmark.