On July 25, 2025, the main part of the project under the National Key R&D Program "Large-scale Salt Cavern Hydrogen Storage," a collaboration between China National Salt Industry Corporation and Tsinghua University, officially commenced construction in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province.
It is reported that the National Key R&D Program's key special project "Hydrogen Energy Technology" — "Key Technologies and Experimental Verification of Large-scale Hydrogen Storage Based on Geological Conditions" — is jointly conducted by China National Salt Industry Corporation and Tsinghua University, in collaboration with China University of Geosciences (Beijing), the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin University, China University of Mining and Technology, SPIC Science and Technology Research Institute, Shougang Group, China Special Equipment Inspection and Research Institute, and PetroChina Engineering Technology Research Institute.
The project focuses on core issues such as safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of large-scale hydrogen storage, with five specialized sub-topics addressing geological evaluation, new-type material development, cavern structure design, cyclic safety regulation, and engineering demonstration verification, aiming to establish a comprehensive technological chain. It will fill the technical gap in China's geological hydrogen storage.
The "Large-scale Salt Cavern Hydrogen Storage" main project, undertaken by China National Salt Industry Corporation, is expected to construct two new salt cavern groups, forming two hydrogen injection-production wells and two brine injection-discharge wells, serving as the engineering carrier for large-scale geological hydrogen storage experimental verification and conducting cyclic hydrogen storage-release performance tests.
It is understood that the project will establish a complete set of proprietary salt cavern hydrogen storage technologies, laying a solid foundation for transitioning from theoretical research to engineering practice, ultimately facilitating the large-scale industrial application of salt cavern hydrogen storage.
Source: China National Salt Industry Corporation
