Solvay has signed an Option Agreement to provide 4 salt caverns to Corre Energy who will develop a Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) facility. These 4 caverns are located in Solvay’s flagship brine field in Epe, Germany and they will be allocated to Corre Energy until 2069 with first handover in 2027. The site will store up to 80 GWh of clean energy in the form of compressed air with 640 MW of installed generation capacity. The partnership with Corre Energy is a key milestone in Solvay’s roadmap to make additional salt caverns available for clean energy storage. 

 

New forms of clean energy storage, like compressed air or hydrogen, are required for the European energy transition as more intermittent renewable electricity will integrate the energy mix. For hydrogen alone, according to a study carried out by Gas Infrastructure Europe in 2021, Europe will run out of storage capacity by 2030 - a maximum of 50TWh will be available whereas 72TWh will be required.

 

Salt caverns can store hundreds of GWh of energy, for long-duration ranging from days to months, offering much larger capacity than any battery nowadays. Due to their configuration, they can be filled and emptied very fast, and this provides a good solution for renewable electricity intermittency.

 

“We are delighted to partner with Corre Energy to give a second life to our salt caverns as clean energy storage,” said Philippe Kehren, President of Solvay’s Soda Ash & Derivatives business. “Salt caverns are a key enabler for a successful energy transition journey. We salute Corre Energy for acting at the right time considering that it takes up to 10 years to fully develop salt caverns for storage purposes. We count on European governments, especially those involved in the development of Hydrogen, to support such initiatives that shall be launched now in order to meet the future European needs for clean energy storage.”

 

“This landmark agreement adds a key market to our portfolio and doubles our capacity in Europe,” said Keith McGrane, CEO of Corre Energy. “The site will be ready for adoption within three years and early discussions show there is very strong customer demand, buoyed by the proximity of the caverns to the grid. Our team of experts will work closely with Solvay, future partners and all relevant stakeholders to bring forward this major new storage solution as we support the global transition to clean energy."