Project description
Europe's renewable energy storage breakthrough
As Europe presses towards renewable energy, storage remains a critical hurdle. The intermittent nature of renewables demands efficient, large-scale storage solutions for seasonal fluctuations. However, batteries and pumped-hydro storage lack the overall capacity to meet seasonal storage demand. In this context, the EU-funded EUH2STARS project aims to pave the way for competitive, complete and qualified underground hydrogen storage in porous subsurface reservoirs at TRL 8 by the end of the decade. Experience gained from an operational physical demonstration facility serves as basis for further technology developments across European partners. Furthermore, EUH2STARS aims to provide a broad range of best-practice recommendations to implement underground hydrogen storage technology and promote it to various relevant stakeholders.
Objective
The overall aim of the project is to demonstrate underground hydrogen storage in depleted porous natural gas reservoirs at TRL-8. RAG Austria AG is in the unique position to start with an already existing pilot facility, developed within the framework of the USS-2030 project (www.uss-2030.at) to TRL 6.
EUH2STARS will bring the pilot to TRL8 using results of several relevant projects (HyUSPRe, HyStoRIEs, Underground Sun Storage, Underground Sun Conversion and others).
To achieve the overall aim and maximize the exploitation of the project results for replication in other regions of Europe the following specific objectives and outcomes are planned:
- Provide recommendations to best manage all environmental, legal and (future) regulatory, societal and market-related aspects to ensure a successful implementation of an underground hydrogen storage facility in Europe (WP 1)
- Provide recommendations on the topic of Health, Safety, Environment and Quality (HSEQ) including a monitoring plan to ensure an ALARP (as low as reasonably practicable) risk level when operating the demonstration site and future commercial storage sites (WP 2)
- Run 4 cycles of seasonal operation with different characteristics and usage profiles to demonstrate the ability to integrate with different energy infrastructure systems with highest purification levels of Hydrogen (WP 3)
- Show transformation pathways to replicate demonstrator findings in full-scale commercial settings at existing underground gas storage facilities and new to be developed storage sites in depleted natural gas reservoirs in Europe located in Austria (RAG), The Netherlands (Shell), Hungary (HGS), and Spain (TES) (WP 4)
- Show how to integrate hydrogen storage facilities into the local, national and European energy infrastructure and market by showcasing specific use cases in AT, HU, NL and ES and other use cases including the integration into the European Hydrogen Backbone (WP 5)
- Establish a sound interactive stakeholder involvement process to maxim replication potential and exploitation of the demonstrator results (WP 6).
Our EUH2STARS mission is:
Best practice demonstrator for a competitive, complete and qualified large-scale hydrogen storage system using a porous subsurface reservoir to enable the integration of European renewable energy sources.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.5 - Climate, Energy and Mobility
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-JU-IA - HORIZON JU Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2023-1
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1015 Wien
Austria
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.