VNG gets EUR 61.1m grant for hydrogen storage project in Germany

VNG Gasspeicher GmbH, a fully-owned subsidiary of German gas group VNG AG, has secured funding of EUR 61.1 million (USD 66.8m) to convert an existing natural gas cavern into a hydrogen storage facility.

The financing is granted under the EU framework Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI), VNG said on Tuesday.

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As part of the project, called GO! Speicher, VNGS will repurpose a natural gas cavern in Bad Lauchstaedt, central Germany, to enable the storage of 46 million cubic metres of hydrogen. This would be the first cavern of this size in Germany, VNG Gasspeicher’s managing director Bernd Protze noted in the statement.

The facility could potentially supply several local industrial regions with hydrogen and help local industries decarbonise their processes, VNG executive Bodo Rodestock commented.

The company plans to dedicate a significant portion of its investments to expanding infrastructure for green gases, Rodestock added.

GO! Speicher is part of the EUR-6.9-billion Hy2Infra package, involving 33 projects for the development of the hydrogen value chain.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.112)