Paving the way towards the future of European Underground Hydrogen Storage
EUH2STARS is an ambitious, industry-driven flagship project to demonstrate competitive, complete and qualified Underground Hydrogen Storage (UHS) in depleted porous natural gas reservoirs at technology readiness level (TRL) 8 by the end of the decade.
The project consortium, comprising of gas storage operators, technology providers, utility, research- and governmental organisations, is supported by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership after successfully applying for the HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2023-02-1 – Large-Scale Demonstration of Underground Hydrogen Storage funding programme. The project is scheduled to run until September 2029.
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Hydrogen storage in depleted natural gas reservoirs is ready for scale-up!
We are happy to announce that EUH2STARS has taken over operations at the Rubensdorf site with the beginning of May 2025. The successful conclusion of two storage cycles within the previous project "Underground Sun Storage 2030" marks the start for four further storage cycles within EUH2STARS. The first cycle started at the beginning of May 2025 and three more cycles are to be conducted until 2029. The learnings from "USS2030" build a valuable basis for EUH2STARS and we are confident that operations will continue successfully. Read more about the insights of "USS2030" in the official press release:
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Start of the European reference project “EUH2STARS”
EUH2STARS is a European flagship project for the conversion of existing underground natural gas into hydrogen storages and will pave the way for their integration into the future European hydrogen infrastructure. This will be demonstrated via several replication sites which are an integral part of the EUH2STARS project. As one of Europe’s biggest natural gas storage operator’s, RAG Austria AG is in the unique position to contribute an already existing UHS pilot facility, developed to TRL6 within the “Underground Sun Storage 2030” project, to the EUH2STARS project. A broad range of experience gained within the implementation of “USS2030” shall be processed to develop and define overarching rules and recommendations for hydrogen underground storage across Europe complemented with project experiences from consortium partner’s research activities.
“We are excited to kick-start the project EUH2STARS which will demonstrate the feasibility of a smart and energy-efficient operation of a hydrogen storage facility on depleted gas reservoirs at technology readiness level (TRL) 8.”
