China Commissions First Large-Scale Salt Cavern Hydrogen Storage Project

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has commissioned China's first large-scale hydrogen storage demonstration project in Pingdingshan City, Henan Province. The facility was jointly developed by the Wuhan Institute of Geotechnical Mechanics of CAS and China Pingmei Shenma Group, with participation from China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec).

The salt cavern storage system was constructed at a depth of 1,418 meters with a solution-mined cavity volume exceeding 30,000 m³ and a hydrogen storage capacity of 1.5 million standard m³. The project addresses previous technical limitations through innovations including a fine-scale site selection framework for layered geological conditions, improved understanding of hydrogen migration in ultra-low-permeability salt structures, anti-hydrogen embrittlement casing materials, and high-integrity sealing systems.

All critical equipment is domestically produced, achieving full localization of core technologies and supply chains. The developers note that the project verifies the technical feasibility of geological hydrogen storage in China and provides an engineering pathway for overcoming storage bottlenecks in the country's hydrogen expansion plans during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

Beyond storage applications, the system is expected to support grid balancing by absorbing surplus renewable energy from wind and solar generation, helping improve system stability.

Originally reported by PV Magazine. Read the full article →