Major Breakthrough: Asia’s First 1.5 Million Nm³ Salt-Cavern Hydrogen Storage Facility Enters Operation, with Homegrown Sinopec Machinery Equipment Passing On-Site Tests

The newly commissioned salt-cavern hydrogen storage facility has a capacity of 1.5 million normal cubic metres (Nm³), making it the first large-scale salt-cavern hydrogen storage facility in Asia to enter commercial operation. With its excellent sealing performance, large capacity, low construction and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, and safe, stable operation, salt-cavern storage is a key energy-storage medium for absorbing green hydrogen at scale and balancing seasonal hydrogen supply. Once operational, the project can store large volumes of hydrogen underground for extended periods, helping resolve mismatches between intermittent wind- and solar-based hydrogen production and demand while providing a stable supply of zero-carbon hydrogen for the chemical, transport and power sectors.

Previously, domestic salt-cavern resources were used mainly to store natural gas and oil. Mature commercial cases of million-cubic-metre-scale salt-cavern hydrogen storage had long been lacking. The launch of this project fills the gap in the commercialization of large-scale salt-cavern hydrogen storage in Asia and provides a demonstration model for the development and utilization of salt-cavern resources nationwide.

Homegrown Heavy-Duty Equipment: Sinopec Machinery’s Hydrogen Storage Systems Prove Themselves in Field Operation

The complete set of core hydrogen-storage equipment supporting stable project operation was independently developed and manufactured by Sinopec Machinery. At the project site, the entire equipment package completed continuous testing across all operating conditions and successfully passed demanding field validation, with key performance indicators benchmarked against leading international products.

Key Equipment Advantages

· High-Pressure Compatibility: Designed for high-pressure hydrogen storage in underground salt caverns; resistant to hydrogen embrittlement and high pressure, and suitable for repeated hydrogen injection and withdrawal cycles.

· Long-Term Stability: Capable of supporting tens of thousands of hydrogen injection and withdrawal cycles per year, with a low equipment failure rate that significantly reduces O&M costs for underground hydrogen storage.

· Fully Localized Supply Chain: Compressors, pressure-regulation systems, seals and control units are all independently developed, reducing reliance on imported equipment and lowering overall project investment.

· Redundant Safety Design: Equipped with multiple leak-detection and overpressure-protection systems to meet the special safety requirements of enclosed underground hydrogen storage.

For years, foreign companies dominated the core technologies for critical high-pressure hydrogen-storage equipment. The large-scale deployment of Sinopec Machinery’s complete equipment package at this million-cubic-metre-class salt-cavern facility demonstrates that China’s hydrogen-storage equipment can now support major underground energy-storage projects. It also establishes a complete domestic equipment system covering the entire ‘hydrogen production—hydrogen transport—underground hydrogen storage’ value chain.

Industrial Significance: Closing the Gap in Hydrogen Energy Storage and Accelerating Development of the New Power System

01  Absorbing Renewable Energy

With a large-capacity salt-cavern hydrogen storage facility, surplus electricity from wind and solar generation can be used locally to produce hydrogen by electrolysis. This converts intermittent energy into hydrogen that can be stored over the long term and helps reduce renewable-energy curtailment.

02  Strengthening the Hydrogen Storage and Transport Network

A million-cubic-metre-class storage facility can serve as a regional hydrogen hub, smoothing supply-and-demand fluctuations, lowering end-user hydrogen costs, and supporting large-scale deployment of hydrogen heavy-duty trucks, green hydrogen for the chemical industry, and distributed power generation.

03  Repurposing Idle Underground Salt-Mine Resources

Central and eastern China contain extensive abandoned salt-cavern resources. This project demonstrates the commercial viability of salt-cavern hydrogen storage, facilitates the conversion of salt-mine resources into green energy-storage assets, and opens new opportunities for local low-carbon economies.

Industry Outlook: Salt-Cavern Hydrogen Storage Enters a New Stage of Large-Scale Development

Regions across China are accelerating development of integrated wind/solar-to-hydrogen projects, making large-capacity underground hydrogen storage essential to industrial-scale growth. The commissioning of Asia’s first 1.5-million-Nm³ salt-cavern hydrogen storage facility, together with the successful deployment of domestically produced Sinopec Machinery equipment, represents two major breakthroughs. They send a clear signal to the industry: China’s salt-cavern hydrogen storage technology, equipment and business models are ready for replication and wider deployment.

Looking ahead, Sinopec Machinery will continue to upgrade high-pressure hydrogen-storage equipment and supporting salt-cavern injection and withdrawal systems while advancing the development of even larger-scale storage equipment. Regions will use local salt-cavern resources to accelerate construction of multiple million-cubic-metre-class hydrogen storage bases, creating a zero-carbon industrial ecosystem that integrates ‘wind and solar hydrogen production + salt-cavern hydrogen storage + diversified hydrogen use’ and supports China’s carbon-peaking and carbon-neutrality goals.