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Advanced Underground Energy Storage Technologies
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Advanced Underground Energy Storage Technologies

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "D: Energy Storage and Application".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2025) | Viewed by 739

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Guangtan Huang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Interests: microseismic safety monitoring of gas storage facilities; unconventional shale reservoirs; rock mechanics and geophysics
Dr. Youqiang Liao

E-Mail
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Interests: heat and mass transfer in porous media and application in underground energy storage combining methods of experimental design and numerical modeling
Dr. Haizeng Pan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Interests: alternating load of gas storage; sealing of gas storage; soft rock strata; macro/micro mechanical properties

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Underground energy storage technologies utilize deep underground spaces to store energy or strategic resources—such as oil, natural gas, hydrogen, compressed air, and carbon dioxide—within underground rock formations. These technologies provide significant advantages, including large storage capacity, extended duration, and minimal environmental impact, offering sustainable solutions for energy systems. They are vital for supporting energy reserves, stabilizing renewable energy supply, and optimizing hydrogen utilization, addressing key challenges such as energy intermittency and storage.

Major forms of underground energy storage include compressed air energy storage (CAES), underground thermal energy storage (UTES), and salt cavern storage, each suited to specific geological conditions. Despite their potential, challenges remain, including selecting suitable storage media, ensuring safety and stability, improving energy transfer efficiency, and achieving economic viability for large-scale deployment and integration with renewables. Additionally, environmental impacts and sustainability must be carefully evaluated.

This Special Issue aims to promote research and innovation in underground energy storage technologies, fostering their development and application to support the global energy transition. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Design and optimization of underground energy storage systems;
  • Advances in CAES, UTES, and salt cavern storage technologies;
  • Selection and evaluation of storage media;
  • Environmental impact and sustainability analysis;
  • Energy transfer and conversion efficiency;
  • Economic feasibility and commercialization;
  • Synergies with renewable energy systems;
  • Innovations and future directions in underground energy storage.

Dr. Guangtan Huang
Dr. Youqiang Liao
Dr. Haizeng Pan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • underground energy storage
  • compressed air energy storage (CAES)
  • underground thermal energy storage (UTES)
  • salt cavern storage
  • energy transfer efficiency
  • renewable energy integration

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

25 pages, 8235 KB  
Article
A Rock-on-a-Chip Approach to Investigate Flow Behavior for Underground Gas Storage Applications
by Marialuna Loffredo, Cristina Serazio, Nicolò Santi Vasile, Eloisa Salina Borello, Matteo Scapolo, Donatella Barbieri, Andrea Mantegazzi, Fabrizio Candido Pirri, Francesca Verga, Christian Coti and Dario Viberti
Energies 2026, 19(2), 348; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19020348 - 10 Jan 2026
Viewed by 136
Abstract
Large-scale storage solutions play a critical role in the ongoing energy transition, with Underground Hydrogen Storage (UHS) emerging as a possible option. UHS can benefit from existing natural gas storage expertise; however, key differences in hydrogen’s behavior compared to CH4 must be [...] Read more.
Large-scale storage solutions play a critical role in the ongoing energy transition, with Underground Hydrogen Storage (UHS) emerging as a possible option. UHS can benefit from existing natural gas storage expertise; however, key differences in hydrogen’s behavior compared to CH4 must be characterized at the pore scale to optimize the design and the management of these systems. This work investigates two-phase (gas–water) flow behavior using microfluidic devices mimicking reservoir rocks’ pore structure. Microfluidic tests provide a systematic side-by-side comparison of H2–water and CH4–water displacement under the same pore-network geometries, wettability, and flow conditions, focusing on the drainage phase. While all experiments fall within the transitional flow regime between capillary and viscous fingering, clear quantitative differences between H2 and CH4 emerge. Indeed, the results show that hydrogen’s lower viscosity enhances capillary fingering and snap-off events, while methane exhibits more stable viscous-dominated behavior. Both gases show rapid breakthrough; however, H2’s flow instability—especially at low capillary numbers (Ca)—leads to spontaneous water imbibition, suggesting stronger capillary forces. Relative permeability endpoints are evaluated when steady state conditions are reached: they show dependence on Ca, not just saturation, aligning with recent scaling laws. Despite H2 showing a different displacement regime, closer to capillary fingering, H2 mobility remains comparable to CH4. These findings highlight differences in flow behavior between H2 and CH4, emphasizing the need for tailored strategies for UHS to manage trapping and optimize recovery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Underground Energy Storage Technologies)
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