Flat salts in Germany

Which salt formations are suitable for storing hydrogen or compressed air? In the research project InSpEE-DS, scientists developed requirements and criteria with which possible locations can be assessed even if their exploration is still at an early stage and the knowledge of the structure of the salinares is low. Scientists from DEEP.KBB GmbH, Hannover, together with their project partners of the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Raw Materials and the Leibniz University Hannover, Institute of Geotechnology Hannover, are working together with their project partners on site selection and the construction of storage caverns in flat-stored salts and multiple or double alinars. Such caverns could store renewable energy in the form of hydrogen or compressed air. While the previous InSpEE project limited itself to salt formations of great thickness in northern Germany, different-old salinar horizons have now been studied throughout Germany. For the assessment of potential, depth-line maps of the top and base as well as thickness maps of the stratigraphic unit and reference profiles considered were developed. Information on the compressed air and hydrogen storage potential in the individual federal states is linked to the identified areas with usable potential. The data can be used via the web service “Information system flat salts”. The display scale has a lower limit of 1: 300 000. The geodata are products of a BMWi-funded research project “InSpEE-DS” (running period 2015-2019). The acronym stands for “Information system salt: planning basis, selection criteria and potential estimation for the construction of salt caverns for the storage of renewable energies (hydrogen and compressed air) — double salinars and flat-storing salt layers”.