AKROS Energy GmbH has inaugurated its pilot plant for the chemical storage of hydrogen in salt at the H2APEX site in Laage, near Rostock. The ceremony on 5 May 2026 was attended by industry partners Evonik and Siemens and the partners of the publicly co-funded FormaPort R&D project. The inauguration marks AKROS Energy’s transition from technology development into market entry, addressing a central barrier to the international hydrogen economy: the safe, scalable long-distance transport and storage of hydrogen.
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Representatives of AKROS Energy, Evonik, Siemens and the FormaPort consortium together with Head of the State Chancellery (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany) Patrick Dahlemann mark the official opening of the pilot plant in Laage, 5 May 2026.
“With the pilot plant, we are showing that our technology works at industrial scale,” said Johannes Emigholz, CEO of AKROS Energy. “Salt as a hydrogen carrier offers a safe, low-cost and infrastructure-light pathway to bring hydrogen from regions where it can be produced abundantly to the industrial markets that need it.”
How the technology works
At the heart of the pilot is a containerised conversion system in which AKROS’ proprietary catalyst converts an aqueous solution of potassium bicarbonate (KHCO₃) — widely used in industry as baking powder — together with hydrogen, into potassium formate (KCOOH). The loaded salt is stable, non-toxic, non-flammable, environmentally harmless and indefinitely storable. At the destination, the reaction is reversed to release hydrogen on demand.
Industry and research partners
The pilot plant was realized with significant contributions from industry partners Evonik and Siemens, long-term partners for the technology scale-up. It is also the centerpiece of FormaPort, a publicly co-funded R&D collaboration backed by the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and co-financed by the European Union, with partners AKROS Energy (lead), LIKAT, TAB and Hochschule Wismar.
AKROS Energy at the World Hydrogen Summit 2026
AKROS Energy will exhibit at the World Hydrogen Summit 2026 in Rotterdam from 19 to 21 May, booth 6E60.
About AKROS Energy
AKROS Energy GmbH develops safe and efficient hydrogen storage systems based on salt as a low-cost carrier medium, enabling scalable long-duration storage and long-distance transport of hydrogen. AKROS Energy is a wholly owned subsidiary of H2APEX, headquartered in Rostock-Laage, Germany.
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