Press statements on the occasion of release of IPCEI funding by Robert Habeck, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection

The GO! storage facility is part of the H2 infra wave. VGS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of VNG AG, has received approval for public funding of the conversion of an existing natural gas cavern into a hydrogen cavern. The cavern to be repurposed is part of VGS’s Bad Lauchstädt underground storage facility.

Bodo Rodestock, member of the Executive Board of VNG AG, on the award of the funding: “As a major regional energy company, VNG is making an important contribution to the energy transition in its home region. We are planning to focus a relevant portion of our investments on expanding the infrastructure for green gases. We are preparing our infrastructure not just to transport hydrogen, but also to store it in order to guarantee a flexible and secure supply of hydrogen in the future – and thus continue to contribute to value creation and sustainable industry in the region.

We are therefore delighted with the green light for official funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) for the planned conversion of an existing natural gas cavern at Bad Lauchstädt into a hydrogen storage facility. This funding puts us in a position to make a final investment decision and gives us confidence. The planned hydrogen storage facility at Bad Lauchstädt could supply several industrial regions in Central Germany with hydrogen in the future. This will enable us to support the industry based here in decarbonising its processes and positioning itself for the future.”

Bernd Protze, Managing Director of VNG Gasspeicher GmbH (VGS), on the IPCEI funding decision for VGS: “The storage infrastructure in Central Germany has a key role in German gas supplies. Today, natural gas is stored in our storage facilities; in the future, it is likely to be hydrogen. It is already clear today that hydrogen storage systems will play an important role in the energy system of the future.

That’s why we at VGS have been looking for some time at the technical aspects of converting our existing storage facilities to hydrogen. With this in mind, we are also a proud member of the Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park consortium. The IPCEI funding commitment also creates the tailwind we need to press ahead with plans to convert an existing cavern at our storage site in Bad Lauchstädt so that hydrogen can be stored there in future. With a capacity of 46 million Nm³ of hydrogen, it will be the first storage cavern of this size in Germany. That is an important signal, especially because it is still early days here in Germany. It is important for us to convert our storage facilities in line with actual customer demand, even if this will not happen overnight."