German energy company EWE has taken another step towards large-scale underground hydrogen storage. Its subsidiary EWE GASSPEICHER has hired industrial services group Bilfinger to deliver a gas treatment plant at the Huntorf storage site in Lower Saxony’s Wesermarsch district.

Bilfinger will handle the engineering, installation and commissioning of the plant, which dries hydrogen as it is withdrawn from storage. It will be the first commercial use of Bilfinger’s H2Dry technology, and the companies describe the treatment unit as a central part of the future storage system.

EWE is converting one of the seven underground natural gas caverns at Huntorf to hold hydrogen, working in stages. Once finished, the facility will connect to Germany’s hydrogen core network. It will store hydrogen when supply is plentiful and release it when demand rises, helping to balance the wider supply chain.

The storage project is part of EWE’s Clean Hydrogen Coastline programme, which combines hydrogen production, storage and transport in north-west Germany. Bilfinger has already worked with EWE for several years on planning hydrogen production and storage facilities at a number of sites.