The energy transition is happening today, and voestalpine Tubulars is proud to contribute to projects that are shaping a more sustainable future. From geothermal projects in Austria and California to hydrogen infrastructure in Central Europe, voestalpine Tubulars is helping turn the energy transition into reality. Read more!
Whether enabling renewable heat from geothermal reservoirs or supporting the storage of hydrogen for future energy systems, our tubes are designed to perform in demanding environments where safety, reliability, and long-term performance are essential. Explore our success stories around the world learn how our expertise in demanding applications help to create a more sustainable future:
Our proven Proprietary Connection, VAsuperior®, plays a key role in the further development of deep geothermal projects in Vienna and other regions of Austria. Due its high level of gas-tightness and reliability under the most demanding conditions, VAsuperior® contributes to the safe and efficient use of geothermal resources from deep underground reservoirs and supports the long-term energy supply for thousands of households.
Beyond Austria, our seamless pipes are also used in geothermal applications across Europe and in major geothermal fields in California. They contribute to the safe and efficient development of geothermal resources, helping transform the earth's natural heat into clean, sustainable energy.
Our high-performance tubular solutions, including the VAhyper® premium connection, are being used in projects focused on the development of new underground hydrogen storage facilities.
Our products also support the conversion of existing natural gas storage sites for hydrogen service and contribute to the expansion of hydrogen infrastructure in Germany, Austria, and other European countries.
These projects are important milestones on the path toward large-scale storage and reliable supply of green hydrogen.
As part of the HyStorage project, we are working together with our partner Uniper to investigate the suitability of materials for hydrogen storage in a former natural gas storage facility.
Since 2022, underground tests have been conducted at a depth of approximately 1,500 meters. The tests are carried out under operating conditions of about 100 bar and with hydrogen concentrations ranging from 5 to 100 percent.
For these investigations, voestalpine Tubulars, in collaboration with Uniper, developed special sample carriers with CLT samples and loaded test specimens to analyze the long-term behavior of the materials under real-world operating conditions.
To date, five installation and exposure campaigns have been successfully completed. The results show no material damage and no significant material-related changes at the hydrogen concentrations tested.
The studies thus confirm the suitability of the tested materials for use in underground hydrogen storage facilities and make an important contribution to the development of a safe and reliable hydrogen infrastructure.
As part of the Dutch HyStock pilot project, carried out in cooperation with DeepKBB, an existing salt cavern was utilized to demonstrate the technical feasibility and safety of large-scale hydrogen storage.
For this purpose, 6,070 ft (approximately 1,850 m) of 4½-inch tubing equipped with the VAhyper® premium connection was deployed during both the mechanical integrity test and the hydrogen injection and snubbing phases, with operating pressures reaching up to 220 bar of hydrogen.
Throughout all project phases, both the tubing and the VAhyper® connections demonstrated complete gas tightness and reliable performance, with no signs of leakage or failure. The successful results underline the suitability of VAhyper® technology for demanding hydrogen storage applications and support the development of safe and efficient hydrogen infrastructure.
