Salt structure information system (InSpEE) as a supporting tool for evaluation of storage capacity of caverns for renewable energies/ rock mechanical design for CAES and H₂ storage caverns

authored by

D. Zapf, K. Staudtmeister, R. B. Rokahr, S. Yildirim, B. Leuger, S. Donadei, D. Zander-Schiebenhöfer, P. L. Horvath, S. Fleig, L. Pollok, M. Hölzner

Abstract

The increasing production of excess energy from fluctuating renewable energy sources raises the question of large-scale energy storage. Therefore, energy storage power plants, which generate, feed and withdraw renewable electricity from compressed air or hydrogen on demand, play an essential role. Large-volume storage of these media can only be accommodated in deep geological formations. A high degree of flexibility in operation and an extremely low tendency to react with the stored medium, make salt storage caverns the preferred storage option. However, existing and available estimates of their total potential for energy storage are insufficiently substantiated. The objectives of the InSpEE project are, therefore, the development and deployment of design principles and basic geological/geotechnical data and of site selection criteria for the establishment of salt caverns as well as the estimation of the renewable energy storage potentials of the salt structures in the North German Basin. Cooperating InSpEE project partners are the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Leibniz University of Hanover, Institute of Geotechnical Engineering/Department of Underground Construction (IGtH) and KBB Underground Technologies GmbH (KBB UT) bringing in their expertise in the areas of salt geology and rock mechanics. Besides systematic collection and evaluation of geological information about salt deposits in North-West Germany thermo-mechanically based assessment criteria will be applied for the site characterization and estimate of its possible storage potential. At the end of the three-year project period, a publicly accessible “Salt information system” will be provided and in addition, the storage potential for caverns as well as for hydrogen (H₂) and compressed air (CAES) in Northern Germany shall be addressed. Within this paper the rock mechanical design for CAES and H2 storage in salt caverns under consideration of thermo-mechanical coupled calculations will be presented.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Geotechnical Engineering

External Organisation(s)

DEEP.KBB GmbH
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR)

Type

Contribution to book/anthology

Pages

291-297

No. of pages

7

Publication date

01.01.2015

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Engineering

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1201/b18393-36 (Access: Closed)