Renovating abandoned mines for compressed hydrogen energy storage can enable the utilization of waste resources and safety of large-scale storage of hydrogen. A theoretical framework of thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) coupling for compressed hydrogen energy storage in abandoned mines is established. The numerical model is validated by using a previous analytical solution. A three-dimensional modeling study on an abandoned mine is conducted to analyze the THM responses and damage characteristics during compressed hydrogen energy storage. The study indicates that the established theoretical framework of THM coupling for compressed hydrogen in abandoned mines can be used for precisely describing the multi-field responses of caverns for compressed hydrogen energy storage. The ultimate storage pressure of the abandoned mine cavern after modification is significantly higher than that of the unmodified abandoned mine. Because the tunnel surrounding rock is affected by the support of anchor cables

the overall damage on the surface of the cavern rock appears mottled. The plastic zone in the surrounding rock of the energy storage cavern evolves downward. Radial and hoop displacements are observed on the cavern surface. Upon crack initiation

tensile

shear

and torsional cracks develop. Relatively high temperature and pressure gradients are observed at the junction between the lane and the main lane. The temperature gradient has an influence range of approximately 1 m. The temperature gradient ranges from −25.8 K/m to 48.8 K/m in the main lane and from −22.8 K/m to 43.8 K/m in the contact lane. The pressure gradient has a relatively large influence range of approximately 7.5 m

with a gradient of 2 000 Pa/m.