Successful Demonstration of Large-Scale Fossil-Free Hydrogen Gas Storage
The results show that it is technically possible to store fossil-free hydrogen gas for the production of fossil-free iron and steel at an industrial scale.
The pilot storage facility has undergone accelerated mechanical testing, equivalent to approximately 50 years of operation, successfully demonstrating its safety, functionality, and performance. Photo: LKAB
The HYBRIT initiative was launched in 2016 by owners SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall with the aim of developing the world's first fossil-free ore-based iron- and steelmaking using fossil-free electricity and hydrogen gas. The project for the production of fossil-free sponge iron for steel production (DR pilot) is now being followed up with the results of the pilot for fossil-free hydrogen gas production and storage.
The project has successfully designed and constructed a 100 m3 hydrogen storage facility based on steel-lined rock cavern technology in Svartöberget adjacent to the DR pilot for sponge iron production in Luleå, Sweden.
The tests now completed show that the technology works to support a large-scale hydrogen user, and that savings of about 25-40 percent of the variable operating costs of hydrogen gas production could be reached. The pilot storage facility has undergone accelerated mechanical testing equivalent to approximately 50 years of operation, and the safety, functionality and performance of the facility have been successfully demonstrated.
– The pilot project has been highly successful and has given us the results we hoped for. With the results and experiences gained from the pilot project, the technology is now ready to be scaled up, says Mikael Nordlander, Director, Industry Decarbonization at Vattenfall's Industrial Partnerships.
– We have yet to make any decisions on hydrogen gas storage, but the successful results from the pilot give us good conditions when we review the needs and opportunities for storage in conjunction with our planned sponge iron production facilities, says Jenny Greberg, Vice President Technology at LKAB.
The steel industry currently accounts for around 7 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. The HYBRIT technology will enable SSAB to reduce Sweden’s and Finland’s carbon dioxide emissions by 10 percent and 7 percent respectively.
– With these innovative technologies, we can build strong fossil-free value chains with the potential to drastically reduce the climate footprint of the iron and steel industry”, says Martin Pei, CTO at SSAB.
The Swedish Energy Agency has co-financed 22 percent of the hydrogen storage project, with the remainder financed by the owner companies.
