Hydrogen storage in engineered caverns in Mid–Upper Triassic salt of the East Irish Sea Basin

About the Project

Characterise Triassic salt beneath the East Irish Sea as potential hydrogen storage sites, interpreting 200+ wells and 3D seismic data with industry-standard tools. Join an Eni-funded multi-university project combining subsurface modelling with salt mine fieldwork, directly supporting the low-carbon energy transition

About this opportunity

The shift to renewable energy brings a fundamental challenge: wind and solar generation is intermittent, and society needs large-scale storage to bridge the gaps. Hydrogen is emerging as one of the most promising carriers for storing this energy, but it requires safe, geologically suitable underground repositories. Engineered salt caverns, long used for gas storage, are an ideal solution, and the thick Triassic halites of the Mercia Mudstone Group (MMG) beneath the East Irish Sea Basin are a compelling candidate for development at scale.

This PhD, funded by Eni as part of a coordinated multi-university programme, will deliver the first systematic subsurface characterisation of those salt units, covering their thickness, purity, structure and faulting, to assess their real-world feasibility for hydrogen storage.

What you will do

Working with one of the largest subsurface datasets assembled for any UK PhD, you will interpret wireline logs from up to 224 wells and up to ten 3D seismic surveys across the East Irish Sea, supplemented by onshore data accessed through the BGS. Using Techlog and Petrel, the industry-standard platforms for well and seismic interpretation, you will map the MMG evaporite sequence in three dimensions, defining the depth, thickness and lateral extent of individual salt horizons, their mineralogical purity, clay content, and structural integrity.

The work is organised into six progressive work-packages, moving from training and data compilation through to integrated mapping and final deliverables for Eni. You will produce isopach maps, N–S and E–W cross-sections, and fault location maps overlaid on evaporite architecture, outputs that will directly inform decisions about where salt caverns could safely and efficiently be sited.

Fieldwork is a core part of the project. You will visit working salt mines in the Northwich area of Cheshire, gaining hands-on familiarity with MMG evaporite sedimentology and rock mechanics, and you will examine representative core material at the BGS core store in Keyworth. These visits ground-truth your subsurface interpretations against real rocks and real mining practice.