Lhyfe delivers green hydrogen for HyPSTER storage project

Green and renewable hydrogen is recognized as one of the essential pillars of the new energy mix, because of its ability to address some of the hardest-to-decarbonize energy uses, such as industry and heavy mobility.

Exploring hydrogen storage in salt caverns

To enable the sector’s large-scale deployment, the Hydrogen Pilot STorage for large Ecosystem Replication (HyPSTER) consortium is exploring the possibility of storing large quantities of green hydrogen in salt caverns, already used to store natural gas.

Producing hydrogen from intermittent renewable electricity means that surplus energy can be stored and released when demand is high, contributing to the efficiency of the power grid and facilitating the integration of renewable energies.

Salt caverns offer good stability over long periods and the salt is impermeable, which prevents hydrogen from escaping.

In addition, these formations are generally located sufficiently deep to guarantee thermal insulation and constant pressure, making storage safe and reliable.

Supply green hydrogen to the HyPSTER project

The hydrogen Lhyfe is supplying the innovative HyPSTER project is supported by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership and aims to test and validate the role of hydrogen storage in the hydrogen value chain.

The idea is to replicate it on a larger scale and support the development of the hydrogen industry in Europe.

From a logistics point of view, the rapidly developing green and renewable hydrogen sector faces many challenges such as access to the molecule, gradual deployment of the transport and storage infrastructure, and implementation of regulations.

The specific nature of certain innovative projects also adds new constraints, making logistics even more complex.

To meet the specific technical and logistical challenges of the HyPSTER project, Lhyfe’s supply chain team designed a bespoke system capable of:

• Match the minimum pressure of the cavern (110 bars), which required transporting more hydrogen (4 tonnes) than the final quantity injected  2.6 tonnes);
• Reduce the number of trucks needed on site, thanks to large capacity containers, including the largest on the market ;
• Deliver the entire required volume in a very short time.

Network of regional hydrogen carriers

Between November 19, and December 11, 2024, Lhyfe delivered 2.6 tonnes of renewable green hydrogen to Storengy at its Etrez-Bresse Vallons site in the Ain region.

To do this, it mobilized two 40-foot containers (with a storage capacity of a tonne) and three 30-foot containers (with a storage capacity of 0,75 tonnes), transporting a total volume of renewable green hydrogen of more than four tonnes.

Lhyfe, which has built up a network of several regional carriers in order to cover the whole country and be as close as possible to its customers, entrusted these five delivery runs to the Brun Group.

At Lhyfe, we’re lucky to have been delivering to our customers since 2021, which has enabled us to experience a wide range of situations – including logistical ones – and to build up our expertise. Today, we are extremely proud to be demonstrating the excellence of our supply chain in order to support this exemplary industrial project HyPSTER, coordinated by Storengy. Through this achievement, our team has demonstrated its ability to manage the flow of renewable green hydrogen with our carriers, from our sites to our customers’ facilities, taking into account their most complex constraints and providing them with its expertise. This success also demonstrates the extent to which the renewable green hydrogen sector is maturing day by day, commented Matthieu Guesné, Founder and CEO of Lhyfe.