E.ON injects first gas at Holford storage facility
1 Jun 2011
London – E.ON has announced the injection of first gas into underground caverns at its Holford gas storage facility, which will eventually have as capacity of up to 156 million cubic meters.
Commercial operations of the first caverns is set to begin towards the end of 2011, with the remaining caverns becoming commercially available to store gas by 2013.
Gas will be injected into each cavern over a four-month long process, which sees the gas replace the brine created by the solution mining process. Once the conversion process is completed, the caverns will become commercially available for the flexible storage of natural gas.
The onsite gas processing plant commenced commissioning in early 2011. Work will continue to fully prepare the underground storage caverns ahead of first commercial operations towards the end of 2011.
Holford will have a crucial role to play in the UK’s energy infrastructure, according to Mike Cooper, Holford project manager, E.ON Gas Storage UK.
“For the past two and a half years we’ve been carrying out solution mining which has involved pumping water into the caverns in the salt layer suitable for storing natural gas,” said Cooper. “The first injection of gas really is … a major milestone for everyone involved with the project.”
