Store solar energy seasonally and on large scale in the form of hydrogen, use existing infrastructure – for a secure renewable energy landscape In the lead project “Underground Sun Storage 2030” (USS 2030), the safe, seasonal and large-scale storage of renewable energy in the form of hydrogen in underground gas reservoirs is being developed. In addition, all partners involved in the project will jointly gain valuable technical and economic knowledge for the development of a secure hydrogen supply.

In this research project, the only one of its kind in the world, renewable solar energy is converted into green hydrogen in a climate-neutral way by means of electrolysis and stored in a pure form in former natural gas reservoirs. Until 2025, interdisciplinary technical-scientific investigations for the energy future will be carried out under real conditions at a small former natural gas reservoir in the municipality of Gampern (Upper Austria) under the leadership of RAG Austria AG together with the project partners – Axiom Angewandte Prozesstechnik GmbH, Energie AG Oberösterreich, Energieinstitut an der Johannes-Kepler-Universität Linz, EVN AG, HyCentA Research GmbH, K1-MET GmbH, Vienna University of Technology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, VERBUND, Verein WIVA P&G and voestalpine Stahl GmbH. A customised research facility will be built for this purpose. These investigations will be complemented by the development of suitable processing technologies, the modelling of future energy scenarios and techno-economic analyses. The project is funded within the framework of the RTI initiative “Vorzeigeregion Energie” of the Climate and Energy Fund, endowed with funds from the Ministry of Climate Protection (BMK).

Presentation of the project