Underground Gas Storage

Types of UGS - Salt Caverns

The cavern creation process can be expensive and lengthy, with the brine and water infrastructure and borehole drilling taking up to two years. This is followed by a further two years to complete the solution mining process, while the gas plant is built in parallel, and finally the debrining process is completed before gas trading can commence. The entire process can take up to six years.

As salt caverns are open vessels they offer very high deliverability, with high flow rates meaning this type of storage facility is best used for short term trading.

Types of UGS - Depleted Field

As onshore and offshore fields become depleted, and depending on their geological structure, some of them can be used to store gas.  The advantages of using depleted fields is that the subsurface architecture is already in place and planning consents will not be as onerous due the pre-existance of hydrocarbons.  The permeability and porosity of the structure will determine the rate at which gas can be injected and recovered.  This type of storage facility will usually lend itself to seasonal storage.

UK Energy Security 

It is predicted that by 2030 the UK could be importing up to 30% of its required gas supply. This makes the country vulnerable to global demand and supply issues. The following press articles and reports highlight the importance of the UK's energy supply security, and the role that gas storage has to play in securing this.

Click on the headline to access the article.

The Guardian, 17th September 2008
From Energy Security: A national Challenge in a Changing World Report by Malcolm Wicks MP, 5th August 2009
The Times 14th October 2008
The Guardian 30th July 2009
The Guardian 12th December 2008