Finnish researchers prove bedrock stores hydrogen

Finnish researchers and energy companies demonstrated on Monday in Espoo that crystalline bedrock can safely house large underground facilities for renewable hydrogen storage.

The study by the Technical Research Centre of Finland and the Geological Survey of Finland provides an alternative for regions lacking natural underground salt caverns. Central Europe and the United Kingdom utilize naturally gas-tight salt formations, whereas Finland must excavate storage caverns into hard rock and engineer artificial gas-tightness.

Technical Research Centre of Finland Senior Scientist and Project Leader Pasi Valkokari noted that building a 40,000-cubic-meter facility will cost about 30 million euros and take four to five years, including planning and permitting. While pipelines manage short-term fluctuations over hours, underground facilities are required to balance supply and demand over days or weeks.

The joint study, funded primarily by Business Finland, brought together 18 industry partners to establish a high-level storage concept. This framework covers cavern design, operating models, safety protocols, geological requirements, and investment needs.

Geological Survey of Finland Geologist Teemu Lindqvist stated that geological site selection, investigations, and material studies are essential to keep the surrounding rock stable and prevent safety hazards from potential chemical reactions with hydrogen. Fortum Power and Heat Vice President of Hydrogen and Power-to-X Satu Sipola added that the findings improve the understanding of storage options and remaining uncertainties for future energy systems.

Finland expects its hydrogen economy to grow in phases, starting with regional clusters before expanding to medium-scale underground facilities holding 10,000 to 40,000 cubic meters. Technical Research Centre of Finland Senior Scientist Jutta Nyblom confirmed that the consortium is now preparing the next research phase to establish design requirements for a pilot facility.

"Public investment support is critical to accelerating green hydrogen investment and the development of Finland's hydrogen economy, as well as ensuring that storage projects can move forward without delay," Valkokari said. He emphasized that moving projects forward will also require value chain collaboration, predictable regulations, and firm offtake commitments.

SOURCE: VTT

On photo: A Finnish study by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Geological Survey of Finland GTK, together with Finnish hydrogen industry companies, shows that underground hydrogen storage can also be developed in crystalline bedrock – an important finding for countries and regions that cannot rely on salt caverns.