Back to the Future?

GDR-era technology makes a comeback in hydrogen storage.

February 2023

Hydrogen technology start-up AMBARtec from the Saxon city of Dresden has developed an approach to hydrogen energy storage that’s both old and new.

Instead of putting H2 in containers for transport, the firm’s HyCS technology stores it in iron. The hydrogen is then released at the destination using steam. The process is a modified and refined version of a technology first developed in the Communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) but largely forgotten after German reunification.

The advantage is extremely high storage density. “Our HyCS storage systems are the most compact H2 storage systems known today,” asserts the company’s website.

© AMBARtec press photo