SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall have commenced building a rock cavern storage facility for fossil-free hydrogen gas on a pilot scale next to HYBRIT’s pilot facility in Luleå, North of Sweden. This step is necessary in the development of a fossil-free value chain for fossil-free steel. The investment cost of just over SEK 250 million is divided equally across the holding companies and the Swedish Energy Agency, which provides support via Industriklivet.
As part of the SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall joint initiative Hybrit Development is starting the construction of a hydrogen storage facility to develop the technology for storage for fossil-free hydrogen. This will replace coal and coke and emissions of carbon dioxide will be virtually eliminated.
Hydrogen storage is predicted to play a important role in future power and energy balancing, and in large-scale hydrogen production. The storage facility is expected to be ready and operational from 2022 until 2024.
The 100 cubic metre hydrogen storage is being built in an enclosed rock cavern approximately 30 metres below ground. Building the storage facility underground provides opportunities to ensure the pressure required to store large amounts of energy in the form of hydrogen in a cost-effective way. The technology used is adapted to Scandinavian bedrock conditions and will now be developed further to handle the storage of hydrogen. The storage facility is being built according to the high safety requirements that apply and checked by the responsible authorities.
