Image: Antonio Bayer
It is a large-scale energy project that is being launched in Upper Austria and is intended to have a signal effect across the EU: EUH2STARS (European Underground Hydrogen Storage Reference System). By 2029, with 20 million euros in funding from the European Union, market-ready hydrogen storage in underground gas deposits and the development of infrastructure around hydrogen storage should be achieved.
Twelve project partners from five European countries are involved, including Linz AG, the Energy Institute of the Johannes Kepler University, the energy company RAG and the Montanuniversität Leoben. Yesterday, Friday, those responsible gave details at a press conference in Linz.
“We want to get there step by step”
The aim is to be able to use summer sun in the winter in the form of green hydrogen and subsequently heat and electricity and to integrate the domestic system into a European infrastructure. “We want to get there step by step over the next five years,” said RAG boss Markus Mitteregger. It can be assumed that there will be more electricity surpluses in the summer in the future, because more energy will be fed in, especially from photovoltaic systems, than the grids can withstand. In order to use this electricity, storage is needed.
It is now important to decouple the production of renewable energies from short-term consumption in order to create year-round security of supply. “Because there are also days when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow,” said State Economics Councilor Markus Achleitner. Pumped storage power plants like the one that Energie AG is building in Ebensee for 451.3 million euros by 2028 are used to “cover daily peaks,” said Achleitner. Hydrogen storage, whether new or converted from classic gas storage, is essential as a supplement.
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Four competitors for the project
RAG, as the consortium leader for the project, prevailed against four competitors in Europe and was awarded the funding, said Mitteregger, not without pride. In the future, underground natural gas deposits will become seasonal and large-volume storage facilities for green hydrogen. RAG already operates a hydrogen storage facility in Gampern, and more could follow in Haag and Sattledt. “We have all the building blocks in Upper Austria to ensure a secure supply of renewable energy from sun and wind,” said Mitteregger.
Erich Haider, General Director of Linz AG, sees the project as an “essential building block” on the path of the state capital and the municipal supplier to expand the district heating supply from the current 40 to 100 percent renewable sources by 2040. The project aims to examine the Linz-Süd district heating power plant and supply lines for their suitability for hydrogen.
The mayor of Linz, Klaus Luger, considers hydrogen to be an important technology for use in Linz’s energy-intensive industry. Linz currently causes 13 percent of CO2 emissions in Austria.
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