Howden will support the important development of a green hydrogen infrastructure in Etrez, France: HyPSTER – the Hydrogen Pilot STorage for large Ecosystem Replication. The contract will see Howden supply a hydrogen compression and tube trailer filling solution.
The project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of underground hydrogen storage, support the development of the hydrogen economy in Europe and ultimately lower the economy’s carbon usage.
Located north-west of Bourg-en-Bresse, the critical demonstration facility intends to assess, for the first time, the link in the hydrogen value chain for underground storage. It will also assess industrial-scale green hydrogen production and storage in salt caverns and the technical and economic reproducibility of the process to other sites throughout Europe.
As part of the development, Howden will supply a containerised high-pressure diaphragm compressor and a tube trailer filling station. The reliability, efficiency and safety delivered by Howden’s compression solution is matched with the large-scale hydrogen storage and distribution system requirements and will also meet storage injection, extraction and storage conditions.
The facility is France’s leading natural gas storage site in salt caverns in terms of capacity. It will rely on local renewable energy (photovoltaic, hydraulic) to produce 400 kg of green hydrogen per day, the equivalent of the consumption of 16 hydrogen buses.
The project was launched earlier this year, with a subsurface and surface engineering study, which precedes the field-testing phase. It is supported by seven partners with complementary expertise: STORENGY, INERIS, Armines/Polytechnique, INOVYN, ESK, ELEMENT Energy, AXELERA.
Construction of the electrolysis unit for on-site green hydrogen production will commence in 2022.
“We are delighted to work with Storengy and their partners on the HyPSTER project and supply our compression solutions for this flagship project.
The expansion of a hydrogen ecosystem relies heavily on renewable energy infrastructure to unlock the potential of hydrogen as a sustainable energy source. Renewable energy sources have previously faced challenges due to their availability compared to market needs. Today, the potential of hydrogen is being examined and understood as a leading option for storing and utilising renewable energy.
Our hydrogen compressors will contribute to the viability aspects of large-scale underground energy storage and support the development of the green hydrogen economy in Europe. A key link in the hydrogen value chain, this project demonstrates Howden’s leadership in the global compression market and our expertise in applications to support the clean energy transition.”
Salah Mahdy, Renewable Hydrogen Director
Germain Hurtado, Hydrogen Project Director at Storengy commented: “This demonstrator is the flagship of the development of green hydrogen underground storage in Europe and is fully in line with the objective of lowering the economy’s carbon intensity. It addresses the integration of the underground storage in the Hydrogen value chain, an important link which has not been tested yet and for which we have been selecting suppliers best suited for the various missions. We are delighted to benefit from the long standing experience of Howden to address the compression related matters”.
This project has received funding from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 101006751. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and Hydrogen Europe and Hydrogen Europe Research.
Find out more about Howden’s hydrogen compression solutions
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