Before the first large hydrogen storage facility in the Netherlands can be developed just across the provincial border near Veendam, the risks of leaks and subsidence must be properly mapped out. This is what the Committee for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) writes in an advisory report on the project. The committee also sees that more knowledge is needed, for example about the possible long-term risks.
The ministers of Climate and Energy and Housing and Spatial Planning had requested the advice. It states which points must certainly be addressed in the environmental impact statement that must be drawn up for hydrogen storage.
The idea is to store hydrogen in underground salt caverns in the outskirts of Veendam in a few years. These are hollow spaces in the ground created by salt extraction.
At the same location between Veendam and Nieuwe Pekela, six of those caverns are now used to store natural gas. Energystock, a subsidiary of Gasunie, wants to realize the country’s first large hydrogen storage facility there. The plan is to put the first cavern into operation in 2028.
“Hydrogen storage in salt caverns has never been used in the Netherlands before,” the EIA Committee notes. “Long-term risks are not always completely certain.” More knowledge also needs to be gained, for example about how hydrogen affects the deep subsurface.
Hydrogen is completely clean to use and can in many cases replace natural gas, with the advantage that CO2 emissions are avoided. The most environmentally friendly way to make hydrogen is by electrolysis. Electricity is used to split water (H2O) into hydrogen and oxygen. If the electricity comes from sustainable sources such as the sun or wind, it is referred to as “green hydrogen”.