In the global energy landscape, there is a clear resurgence in the hydrogen sector, a key energy carrier for achieving decarbonization and sustainability goals.

Geological hydrogen storage provides flexibility to the system, offering the possibility to store large volumes long-term using existing infrastructure. However, the feasibility and sustainability of the storage process still need to be demonstrated.

Studies, such as the one proposed here, are necessary to provide concrete tools to support the development of underground hydrogen storage.

The proposed activity describes the main aspects of interest for geological hydrogen storage, with the aim of identifying potentially suitable national areas for underground hydrogen storage through modeling support.

This report describes the activities carried out in the intermediate year of the Research System Three-Year Plan (RdS). The first objective is to continue research to verify the presence and characteristics of potentially suitable national deposits for hydrogen storage, collecting the most complete set of information possible. The second objective was to initiate a project structured in the QGIS environment, populated with the main thematic elements of interest and the data necessary for mapping potential storage areas. The analyses cover various types of deposits and are preparatory to achieving the third objective of the activity, which is the development of numerical simulations of the hydrogen storage process to demonstrate the functionality of the new modules implemented in the GeoSIAM code as well as the technical feasibility of the process. These aspects were developed through test cases and dedicated scenarios. The feasibility results from the simulation are valid under the hypothesized conditions: due to a lack of data (both bibliographic and experimental), they cannot be considered representative of a real process. This aspect represents the major critical point and will be addressed in the coming year, provided there is an opportunity to obtain additional data. The analyses conducted and the results obtained are therefore an excellent starting point to better explore the different types of deposits and build more refined simulation scenarios.