The Augsburg-headquartered real assets investment manager has secured €351m ($412m) in refinancing, as part of a wider €540m ($634m) debt package, extending loan maturities by five years and lowering borrowing costs to support the asset’s long-term development.

The Etzel storage facility is one of the country’s largest underground sites, comprising 75 operational salt caverns used to store oil and gas reserves, with capacity to expand to up to 99 caverns.

Hydrogen tests at Etzel have already been completed with major European partners.

In 2024, Gasunie and Storag Etzel agreed to develop hydrogen storage caverns with up to 11TWh of capacity, and have already begun storing hydrogen, with 45 tonnes injected earlier this year.

“This refinancing allows us to progress the next phase of development for one of Europe’s most important energy storage assets,” explained Heiko Süß, Managing Director at Patrizia.

“The backing of our lenders reinforces the long-term future of the facility as a hydrogen-ready platform central to Europe’s industrial decarbonisation efforts.”

Etzel is owned through one of Patrizia’s specialist infrastructure funds, which invests in underground storage assets that can be repurposed to support the energy transition.