A pillar for security of supply & energy transition in Europe
As one of Europe‘s largest gas storage operators, Uniper Energy Storage ensures that energy is available flexibly whenever it is needed.
As an independent company, we offer access to 8 underground gas storage facilities in Germany, Austria and the UK with a total capacity of 80 TWh, which are connected to four market areas.
Our portfolio consists of 8 gas storage facilities
Access to market areas THE, TTF, CEGH & NBP
Distribution in 4 countries: DE, AUT, NL & UK
TWh of total working gas capacity
Natural gas forms an important bridge between fossil and climate-friendly energy. The growing share of renewable energies in the energy mix will require the storage of large amounts of energy in the future, because sun and wind are not always available. This electricity from renewable energy sources can be transformed into hydrogen by electrolysis and so stored in large gas storage facilities.
With a pioneering spirit and decades of experience, Uniper Energy Storage is pushing to decarbonise the energy industry to ensure security of supply in the future through the storage of natural gas, hydrogen and other renewable gases.
Our technical and digital expertise is constantly evolving. Together with our customers, we develop products that help them meet their new energy requirements with electricity from renewable sources. In addition, we optimize processes at our natural gas storage facilities to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions and transparently offset any remaining emissions.
We are the beating heart of energy
This natural gas storage facility has been in operation since 1975 and is one of the largest pore storage facilities in Germany with its 0.8 billion m³ storage volume in 1,500m deep sandstone layers. Uniper Energy Storage owns and operates this storage facility and tends to market its storage capacities on a seasonal basis. The H-gas storage facility is connected to the THE market area (transmission system operator: Open Grid Europe) in the Alpine foothills, so that the natural gas stored here can be traded on Germany's natural gas markets.
The 7Fields natural gas storage facility was put into operation in 2011. It is a project jointly conducted by Uniper Energy Storage and RAG Austria, which is co-owner and acts as technical operator. 7Fields is located in Austria, close to the German border. Several former natural gas reservoirs extend across the provinces of Upper Austria and Salzburg and are combined in this point to form a joint storage network. It has a working gas volume of 1.6 billion m³ and is connected via three storage connection points to both the German transport network and the Austrian transmission and distribution network and thus to the market areas THE (Germany) and CEGH (Austria).
Since its commissioning in 1998, the Breitbrunn natural gas storage facility has been one of the largest pore storage facilities in Europe with a total capacity of about 1 billion m³. The storage facility is a cooperation between two companies, NAFTA Speicher and Uniper Energy Storage. Uniper Energy Storage is the storage operator within the meaning of the Energy Industry Act, acting as a storage system operator and marketing the entire capacity. The H-gas storage facility is connected to the THE market area (transmission system operator: Open Grid Europe) and is thus linked to the natural gas markets in Germany. Uniper Energy Storage GmbH has now applied for approval for the decommissioning of the Breitbrunn gas storage facility by BNetzA in accordance with article 35h of the EnWG with effect from March 31, 2027.
The Epe H-gas cavern storage facility went into operation in 1976 with the first 5 caverns. After several expansion stages, 29 caverns with a working gas capacity of 1.8 billion m³ working gas are now in operation. The H-gas storage facility is connected to the THE market area via the OGE network. As KGE's operator, the storage facility manages a further 4 caverns. The Epe H-gas and L-gas storage facilities are operated via a joint compressor station.
The Epe L-gas cavern storage facility was commissioned in 1987. Its 10 caverns represent a total working gas capacity of 500 million m³. Uniper Energy Storage is the sole owner of this L-gas storage. The storage facility is connected to the THE market area (transmission system operator: Open Grid Europe). The Epe H-gas and L-gas storage facilities are operated via a joint compressor station.
The Eschenfelden pore storage site was commissioned in October 1967 and was in commercial use until April 2021. What makes it special is that it is an aquifer storage facility and the porous rock layer, located approximately 500–600 metres below the earth's surface, was filled with water in its original state. After being decommissioned for economic reasons, the storage facility is now being gradually dismantled and renaturalised.
Between 1989 and 1991, nine oil caverns that had previously been used as part of the strategic oil reserve were converted for gas storage operations. With commissioning in 1993, the original purely Norwegian consortium opened up to the German supply partner Ruhrgas. Today, the Etzel Gas Storage is a joint venture of the three partners Uniper Energy Storage, Equinor Storage Deutschland and Total Etzel Gaslager. Since its beginnings, the operator of the Etzel Gas Storage has been today's Storag Etzel Service. Today, the Etzel gas storage facility has a total of nineteen caverns with a working gas capacity of approx 1.2 billion m³. The storage facility is connected to the market area THE (transmission system operator: Open Grid Europe).
The Etzel ESE storage station was commissioned in 2012 and, with 19 connected caverns, is one of the largest cavern storage facilities in Europe. The Etzel ESE natural gas storage facility is a cooperation between the companies Uniper Energy Storage GmbH, MET Germany Holding GmbH, OMV Gas Storage Germany GmbH und VNG Gasspeicher GmbH, with Uniper Energy Storage as the technical operator. The total working gas capacity is approx. 2 billion m³, of which Uniper Energy Storage uses approx. 1.3 billion m³. The H-gas storage facility is connected to the German market area THE (FNB: Open Grid Europe) and, via the Bunde-Etzel pipeline (BEP), to the Dutch TTF, where the most liquid natural gas trading hub in Western Europe is located.
The Holford flexible natural gas storage facility is located 30km southwest of Manchester and can be used to balance short-term fluctuations in demand. Operations began in November 2011 - all eight caverns have been in operation since February 2013. Due to on-site expertise, the storage volume available to customers has been increased twice. The storage facility is wholly owned by Holford Gas Storage Ltd, part of Uniper Energy Storage, and is connected to the National Transmission System's Cheshire Entry Point.
In the Krummhörn natural gas storage facility, hydrogen storage is to be tested on an industrial scale for the first time. The project "Hydrogen Pilot Cavern - HPC" aims to provide information across the entire value chain on how the gas can be stored and how equipment and materials react to hydrogen. The pilot plant with a storage volume of up to 500,000 cubic meters of hydrogen was inaugurated in 2024. The Krummhörn natural gas storage facility is currently not in use for natural gas, as continued operation of the storage facility is not economically viable.
The move of Uniper Energy Storage's corporate headquarters to Düsseldorf's “Medienhafen“ in 2019 has succeeded well in organizing the business processes of the central business units even more efficiently. The Float building designed by Renzo Piano consists of six "ice floes" that appear to float through the harbour on Franziusstrasse and provide sufficient "open space" for the offices of the Uniper Group companies.
Uniper Energy Storage Austria is the Austrian branch of Uniper Energy Storage GmbH, based in the heart of Vienna. It was founded in April 2011 and represents Uniper Energy Storage in the Austrian energy market. It maintains contacts with its local customers, market partners and government agencies. With its specific knowledge of the Austrian gas market, the Austrian branch supports the sale as well as the business development of storage services with a special focus on the 7Fields storage facility.
