SSE, Statoil open major UK gas storage facility

Aldbrough, UK – Scottish and Southern Energy plc and Statoil (UK) Ltd have opened a major new gas storage facility at Aldbrough in East Yorkshire.

The facility will eventually be able to provide around 7% of the total gas storage capacity in the UK and around 25% of gas deliverability, the developers said.

Aldbrough comprises nine underground caverns, which have been formed by using seawater to leach out salt deposits around 2km under ground. The seawater is replaced by gas under pressure.

Six of the nine caverns at Aldbrough are already storing gas, with the remaining three to be ready for operation by summer 2012.

When fully commissioned, Aldbrough will ultimately have the capacity to store around 330 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas. It will have the capacity to deliver gas to the National Transmission System at a rate of up to 40mcm per day and the ability to have up to 30mcm of gas per day injected.

Ownership of Aldbrough is divided between SSE and Statoil UK on a two-thirds/one-third basis. The companies’ total investment in the development and construction of Aldbrough is expected to be around GBP £435 million.

The companies have the consent to extend the Aldbrough development, but concluded during 2010 that an investment decision on the extension should be deferred while the UK government develops its gas security policy.

SSE already owns and operates a 325-mcm gas storage facility at Hornsea, 18km from the Aldbrough site.

At an official opening ceremony, Charles Hendry, UK energy minister: “Together with our domestic production and imports, gas storage is a crucial part of ensuring we keep the lights on.

For his part, Alistair Phillips-Davies, SSE’s generation and supply director, said: “This official opening confirms the contribution that the Aldbrough development is already making to gas security in the UK and confirms that the construction of another of SSE’s large capital projects is on course for completion in 2012.

Statoil UK’s MD Kjetil Johnsen added: “The UK needs to ensure that it can access reliable and flexible sources of gas for decades to come in order to efficiently meet its climate commitments. The Aldbrough gas storage facility is an important piece of the energy puzzle for Statoil, SSE and the UK.”