Hungary's First Hydrogen Production Plant Inaugurated

As part of the Akvamarin project, Hungarian Natural Gas Storage Plc. has installed a 2.5 megawatt electrolysis system and associated hydrogen gas production technology at the Kardoskút underground gas storage facility in SE Hungary. The cost of the R&D project was HUF 5.6 billion, of which HUF 2.5 billion was provided by the state.

The CEO of Hungarian Gas Storage Plc., Ákos Kriston,said that in the Akvamarin project, Hungarian Gas Storage Plc has installed a 2.5 megawatt electrolysis system and associated hydrogen gas processing technology at the Kardoskút underground gas storage facility.

He explained that with the help of an electrolysis - water decomposition - unit, using electricity, the tap water is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen, and the hydrogen is stored after pressure boosting. There are two possible uses: as a raw material, to sell the hydrogen in tankers; or to use it as a gas feedstock for natural gas, blended with gas-fired compressors.

The benefit of the project is that the surplus electricity generated by renewable energy sources (solar panels) in the electricity system can be stored in large quantities, up to several hundred megawatts, in the form of hydrogen for long periods of time, even months, and can be recycled as electricity on demand, he explained.

He underlined that no completely new infrastructure had been built in Kardoskút, the existing natural gas storage facility had to be adapted for the project. For now, they can produce a small amount of hydrogen, 400 cubic metres per hour.