PATRIZIA/STORAG ETZEL, a wholly managed operating company of PATRIZIA, and Gasunie, a Dutch state-owned energy infrastructure company, have signed option lease agreements to develop hydrogen storage caverns in the caverns facility in Etzel in Lower Saxony, Germany.
STORAG ETZEL, which has been managing large-scale oil and gas storage facilities in underground caverns in Lower Saxony for more than 50 years, will develop the hydrogen storage caverns.
The hydrogen storage pilot project H2CAST Etzel, conducted by STORAG ETZEL, Gasunie and other partners since 2022/2023, comprises the conversion of two caverns into hydrogen storage caverns, the construction of an above-ground facility and a subsequent test and research phase to be completed by end of 2026.
The connection of the Etzel storage facility is also part of the planned hydrogen pipeline grid called Kernnetz (core hydrogen grid) to meet the future hydrogen demand across Germany.
The goal of the pilot t