Lulea has reached the halfway point in the construction of a fossil-free hydrogen storage facility in a rock cavern.
The steel lining is currently being installed inside Svartöberget. By the summer, the storage facility, which will be an important part of the value chain for fossil-free iron and steel production, should be operational.
The three owners, SSAB, LKAB, and Vattenfall, launched the HYBRIT initiative in 2016. In the overall value chain for fossil-free iron and steel production, the hydrogen storage facility will be critical. Although production can take place without a storage facility, storage allows for the variation of electricity demand and ensures consistent production. When there is a lot of electricity, such as when there is a lot of wind, producing hydrogen gas and using stored hydrogen gas when the electricity system is stressed will ensure production.
“The hydrogen storage facility has a stabilising effect on the electrical system. It reduces the risk of the system overloading. We want to develop HYBRIT technology so that it is in line with the future electricity system with more weather-dependent electricity generation,” says Mikael Nordlander, Development Manager for Vattenfall’s industrial partnerships.
The storage facility is one-of-a-kind, and the HYBRIT initiative is once again leading the charge toward a fossil-free future. The technology for storing gas in a lined rock cavern (LRC) is well-proven and has been used for natural gas storage in southern Sweden for about 20 years. However, the technology is now taking another step forward, as it is being tested on a large pilot scale for the first time with hydrogen gas.
“What’s so fantastic about HYBRIT is just how many different innovative parts the initiative consists of. The hydrogen storage facility is a good example of how we’re testing and using innovations to achieve the goal of a completely fossil-free value chain, the first in the world,” says Martin Pei, Technical Director at SSAB.
“The hydrogen atom and the hydrogen gas molecule are the smallest that exist, which brings special challenges. We want to see that the storage facility can cope with variations in pressure and can keep up when electricity generation varies,” says Susanne Rostmark, research leader at LKAB.
The plant’s various components are now mostly in place. A ventilation shaft was drilled from the top of the rock down to the upper part of the rock cavern, and rock caverns and connecting tunnels were built in the rock. The compressor that will be used to pressurize hydrogen gas for storage was installed at the end of 2021.
The pipelines required to transport hydrogen gas to the storage facility have also been installed since the start of construction. The hydrogen gas that will be stored is being produced in conjunction with a pilot plant in Lulea that is already producing fossil-free steel through direct reduction. The hydrogen can be used in both direct reduction and storage experiments.
SSAB, LKAB, and Vattenfall can reduce Sweden’s carbon dioxide emissions by 10% and Finland’s by 7% using HYBRIT technology. The HYBRIT technology relies on fossil-free hydrogen gas instead of coal and coke. The owners, SSAB, LKAB, and Vattenfall, are investing a total of around SEK 200 million in three equal parts, with the Swedish Energy Agency contributing just over SEK 52 million.
