German utility Uniper is exploring the potential development of a salt cavern hydrogen storage facility near Warmingham, Cheshire, in the UK.
Uniper is partnering with British Salt, which owns the mineral rights and has existing operations on the site.
The two companies have signed a feasibility development agreement which gives Uniper the sole rights to explore the site’s potential for hydrogen storage – which could equate to as much as 400GWh across 13 caverns.
The companies will work together to develop designs for the drilling of the first two wells so that they are suitable for the potential development of hydrogen storage caverns.
Development of the Salinae Hydrogen Storage project will be subject to Uniper being granted development-consent-order planning approval and in the absence of a hydrogen market. And as a precursor to a competitive market framework, Uniper will also need the UK government to develop a bespoke business model to bring forward this first-of-a-kind technology for the UK.
British Salt will add steps to its existing solution mining plans to support Uniper in gathering data with the aim of evaluating the site’s potential for hydrogen storage.
The UK has a geology that is highly favourable for salt cavern gas storage, which could significantly contribute to the large-scale seasonal and daily flexibility needs of the UK’s future energy system.
John Rixham, Uniper Head of Hydrogen Storage Development for the UK, said flexible energy storage was a fundamental component of the energy transition and the security of the UK’s energy supply.
“Cheshire has the perfect geology to safely store large volumes of hydrogen,” he said.