Innovation

We are focussing on the continuous development of the hydrogen market which will also require a significant expansion of hydrogen storage capacities in the coming years. As experts in the underground storage of various storage fluids, we are able to support our customers in challenging projects for the preparation and realisation of hydrogen storage facilities in the geological underground.

Compressed air storage power plants can store large quantities of surplus electrical energy in one or more underground salt caverns in a very short time and feed it into the electricity market when required. Due to the high-power demands and the associated large volumes of air to be injected and withdrawn, underground salt caverns are the most suitable storage facilities for large-scale compressed air storage power plants.

In addition to the expansion of renewable energies, the (temporary) storage of carbon dioxide deep underground has great potential for reducing emissions. 

As part of the CO2SINK project, the injection, storage and back production of carbon dioxide in a saline aquifer at the Ketzin site was investigated. ESK played a key role in analysing the measurement data of back production focussing on the calculation of simultaneous withdrawal of reservoir fluid.

Installation of a fibre-optic measuring system for longitudinal borehole casing strain with simultaneous temperature measurement using Brillouin Optical Frequency Domain Analysis (BOFDA) was realised for the first time by ESK and its partners. 

Since the system was commissioned in 2020, it has been working reliably and delivering reproducible data with good resolution. It allows direct monitoring of the borehole strain and thus provides valuable support for the management of well integrity. Work on this project was co-financed by the Solution Mining Research Institute (SMRI). A report on the research project is available from the SMRI online library. Analysis of the data obtained is subject of further work and will be published once it has been finalised.

In times of highly fluctuating electricity prices, it can be useful for operators of natural gas storage facility to recover compression energy contained in the storage inventory and feed it into the electricity market. Strategies for the economic optimisation of storage can also be considered. ESK has investigated these options for an exemplary storage facility with regard to their technical, geological and economic feasibility and assessed their applicability for other storage sites.