AKROS Energy GmbH has officially inaugurated its pilot plant for salt-based hydrogen storage at the H2APEX facility in Laage near Rostock, Germany. The launch represents a major step forward in the company’s move from research and development into commercial market operations. The project focuses on solving one of the hydrogen industry’s biggest challenges — the safe, scalable, and cost-effective storage and transportation of hydrogen over long distances.

The inauguration ceremony, held on May 5, 2026, was attended by leading industry partners including Evonik and Siemens, along with participants from the publicly funded FormaPort research and development project.

According to Johannes Emigholz, CEO of AKROS Energy GmbH, the pilot plant demonstrates that the company’s hydrogen storage technology is now capable of operating at an industrial scale. He explained that using salt as a hydrogen carrier creates a safer, lower-cost, and infrastructure-efficient solution for transporting hydrogen from regions with abundant production capacity to industrial markets with growing energy demand.

The technology behind the project is based on a containerized conversion system that uses AKROS Energy’s proprietary catalyst technology. In the process, an aqueous solution of potassium bicarbonate (KHCO₃), a material commonly used in industrial applications and baking powder production, is combined with hydrogen and converted into potassium formate (KCOOH).

The resulting salt-based compound offers several advantages for hydrogen storage and transportation. It is stable, non-toxic, non-flammable, environmentally safe, and can be stored for long periods without degradation. Once the material reaches its destination, the chemical reaction can be reversed to release hydrogen whenever needed.

The pilot plant was developed with strong support from industrial and research partners. Evonik and Siemens played important roles in scaling up the technology for industrial use. The facility also serves as the central component of the FormaPort project, a publicly co-funded research initiative supported by the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and partially financed by the European Union.

Additional project partners include LIKAT, TAB, and Hochschule Wismar.

AKROS Energy GmbH will also present its hydrogen storage technology at the World Hydrogen Summit 2026 in Rotterdam from May 19 to 21, where the company will exhibit at booth 6E60.

About AKROS Energy GmbH

AKROS Energy develops advanced hydrogen storage systems that use salt as a low-cost and safe carrier medium for long-duration storage and long-distance hydrogen transport. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of H2APEX and is headquartered in Rostock-Laage, Germany.