Petroleum is the leading company of the UNDERGY project. It has a multidisciplinary technical team of experts in geosciences, reservoir engineering and drilling and surface facilities. Disciplines all related to the exploration and production of hydrocarbons and the development of underground energy storage. In addition, the company has natural gas production facilities in operation and manages two underground storages in the Guadalquivir Valley.
(‘Petroleum’ work team; from left to right)
David Fernandez Toledano, dfernandez@trinity-es.com
Mining Engineer
Drilling Manager
Antonio Saenz Mendez, asaenz@trinity-es.com
Industrial Engineer
Surface facilities Manager
Cristina Yuste Fernandez, cyuste@trinity-es.com
Senior Reservoir Engineer
Project Development Manager
Santiago Ledesma Mateo, sledesma@trinity-es.com
PhD Geological Sciences
Geosciences Manager
Reyes Aymerich Lopez, raymerich@trinity-es.com
Industrial Engineer
Operations Manager
Julio Matesanz Muñoz, jmatesanz@trinity-es.com
Mining Engineer
General Coordinator of the Undergy project
Gessal is a company specialized in geological, geophysical exploration and drilling. The company has 35 years of experience in consulting the exploration of deep geological storage of gas, CO2 and high-level radioactive waste in the Spanish onshore and offshore territory. It has also focused its activity on the exploration and production of hydrocarbons from the underground internationally, and is, for more than 20 years, concessionaire of the management of the Technical Archive of Hydrocarbons of the current ‘Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico’.
Gessal will contribute with its vast geological knowledge of the country with regard to determining the storage capacity in porous caverns, saline deposits including their modelling and characterization.
H2B2 is a technology company that provides design, development, engineering, manufacturing, integration, and O&M for modular hydrogen production systems based on PEM (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane) electrolysis.
H2B2 will work on the purification of water to generate hydrogen by electrolysis, investigating the 3 electrolysis technologies, on the power converter to adapt the electrolyzer system with renewable energy sources (stop cycles, start-up …) and will carry out the conceptual design of a new 20 MW electrolyzer for green hydrogen.
Técnicas Reunidas is a world leader in engineering in the energy business. Because of the growing role of zero carbon technologies in energy supply, TÉCNICAS is strengthening its offer in the provision of services for green and blue hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, bioenergies and projects that apply the principles of the circular economy. In its José Lladó Technology Center, one of the most modern in Spain, and in which more than 70 people work, including graduates and doctors from different disciplines, Research and Technological Development projects are developed with special attention to the technological needs of the company. TÉCNICAS provides technological and technical assistance services and collaborates transferring research results to the institutions with which it collaborates.
TÉCNICAS aims within the UNDERGY project to increase the knowledge of membrane technology to purify hydrogen starting from an initial scenario of mixing with methane. Also, in the optimal design and integration of the main equipment that are part of the hydrogen-related systems and renewable energy production plants.
https://www.tecnicasreunidas.es
AYTERRA is an SME with experience in processing permits, studies, monitoring of exploitations, water management, and restoration and closure plans for mines and quarries. AYTERRA has been committed for years to innovation and the development of techniques applied to the continuous monitoring of both physical variables (measurement of piezometric levels, phoronomic control, subsidence networks, seismic networks, etc.), and physical-chemical (Electrical Conductivity or pH).
AYTERRA offers its clients advice in the field of Geology, Mining, Water, Environment and Information Systems. Its projects include the operation of the hydrological/phoronomic monitoring networks in Cobre las Cruces S.A, the Hydrochemical Control Network of the Environmental Monitoring Plan (PVA) of MATSA, or the Groundwater and Land Deformation Monitoring Network for Trinity Almacenamientos Andalucía.
Regarding its role in the UNDERGY project, Ayterra will carry out the design of monitoring networks, evaluation of geological risks associated with the underground storage of H2, and identification of water resources. In relation to CO2, it will investigate the potential sources, their alternatives for capture, transport, and distribution.
GNCom has an expert team in planning and modeling of the electricity market, optimization of production, trading of electricity and certification of renewable energy.
GNCom is 100% NATURGY ENERGY GROUP.
In the UNDERGY project, GNCom will analyze and quantify the need of energy storage for the integration of renewable generation and, on the other hand, will investigate new operating models, based on information technologies (ICT) with scalability capacity and integration of generation, storage and energy consumption.
The contribution of CNH2 will be key in the development of Activity-2.
The research developed by the CNH2 will allow progress in the knowledge of the interaction of hydrogen with the selected pilot field rocks, as well as with existing fluids, in order to develop the technological base for the storage of green hydrogen in depleted natural gas fields.
The CNH2 will focus its research on investigating the interaction between gases (H2, CH4, CO2) and with the reservoir and seal rocks at reservoir conditions (pressure, temperature and brine content). It will also study, among others, methanation reactions due to microbial metabolism.
On the other hand, within Activity-4 the CNH2 will carry out the evaluation of the technical requirements that the equipment of the surface facilities must meet for their use with hydrogen. This research will result in obtaining a selection of critical equipment according to the service it provides, as well as the material that composes it, and then perform on them a battery of tests that validate their suitability for the jobs they must perform and that there is no risk. It will also carry out the compatibility study of materials used in the exploitation of geological storage with hydrogen, evaluating the susceptibility to hydrogen brittleness of the constituent materials of the systems located on the surface of geological storage under hydrogen at high pressure.
During the Activity-6, CNH2 will contribute to the technical-economic analysis of the different technological options to achieve efficient sizing of renewable generation and seasonal storage of green hydrogen. CNH2 will analyze other industrial, agricultural and transportation sectors, investigating the synergies that allow maximizing the generation potential of renewable energy.
The contribution of IGME will be essential in activities 1 and 2:
Activity-1: The geological characterization of deep storage in salts and porous formations
Activity-2: The IGME, as a national reference in the study, research, analysis and recognition in the field of Earth sciences and technologies, is a necessary actor to achieve the objective of developing the technological base for the storage of green hydrogen in depleted gas fields pursued by the UNDERGY project.
The contribution of IGME in Activity-2 will focus on the characterization of seal and reservoir rocks, through:
– Sampling of existing and analogous field soundings, destructive and non-destructive analysis, statistical study of compositional results.
– Rock-gas interaction tests. Petrographic/petrophysical/geochemical characterization of discrete samples exposed to H2.
–Modelling. Reservoir characterization and dynamic behavior of H2. Petrophysical model. Dynamic models of H2.
The UPM will participate in Activity-2; in particular in the characterization of geological formations for storage. By simulation, it will determine the maximum operating pressure, propagation conditions and leakage of H2. It will study the mechanical conditions as a function of the expected pressure gradients in the reservoir formation. It will perform the dynamic simulation (4D), considering the inputs of the 3D geological and geomechanical model.
The UPM will contribute with its expert team in underground exploration and energy, rock mechanics, physicochemical processes and fluid diffusion in geological formations. The scope of work is on line with the objective of developing the technological basis for the storage of green hydrogen in depleted reservoirs and caverns.
Within Activity-2, the Department of Geology of the University of Salamanca will carry out the identification and recognition of similar stratigraphic levels of outcrops, equivalent to those crossed in the gas exploration wells under study in the project. In particular, it will provide stratigraphic control and micropaleontological dating of the samples of cores, gravels and outcrops obtained in the Guadalquivir basin. It will also make age determination and paleoenvironmental characterization of selected stratigraphic levels.
The Materials and Sustainability research group of the Department of Engineering is an expert in design, research and substantial technological improvement of all types of hydrogen generation systems, being involved in various relevant sectorial research projects.
LOYOLA University participates in Activity-3 of the UNDERGY project (electrolysis), involved in the study, analysis, development and optimization of a water treatment system, and its potential configurations, so that the electrolyzer rejection water is minimized and the configuration of the power converter adequacy system. Likewise, it collaborates in the optimization of electrolytic stacks and different technologies, for the use of different water qualities and integration with renewable sources, depending on their performance and the behavior of their materials (efficiency, degradation, dynamic operation …) the experimental characterization of PEMEL SOEL and AEMEL technology.
TECNALIA collaborates in Activity-4 in the research of advanced membrane materials for the purification of hydrogen from streams from depleted storage. The studies of membrane materials (aimed at determining the efficiency of different materials under process conditions), will serve for the optimization of the process and final validation of membranes in a laboratory scale demonstrator.
TECNALIA also collaborates in the study of the behavior of materials in contact with hydrogen gas. It is intended to know if the materials used in components of interest are suitable at operation conditions to hydrogen. Through its Energy and Environment Division, TECNALIA collaborates with two renowned groups: Membrane Technology and Process and Material Intensification for Extreme Conditions.