Underground storage - Presentation
Our historical expertise, natural gas storage, presents multiple challenges.
Underground storage is an essential tool for the gas system – it provides flexibility.
This storage system provides a rapid response to gas consumption peaks that may occur at certain times of the day and also allows for seasonal modulation. It also contributes to the security of energy supply by making it possible to cope with temporary failures of natural gas supply sources.
At Storengy:
- 21 underground storage sites in Europe
- 12.2 Gm3 of gas storage capacity
Our challenges:
- Adjusting supply and demand
Natural gas consumption varies greatly depending on the time of day, the day of year and the season. It is therefore underground storage that makes it possible to ensure reliable and continuous delivery throughout the year. It makes an indispensable contribution to covering peak winter consumption, for example, or at certain key times of the day.
- Ensuring security of supply
Underground gas storage is close to the places of consumption and allows gas to be physically available in the short term. It therefore guarantees security of supply and avoids load shedding as well as the waiting time required to transport natural gas through pipelines or LNG carriers.
- Coping with an exceptional situation – extremely high demand or possible temporary failure of a supply source – for technical, economic or political reasons, for example. Thus, it limits the economic and social impact of this potential supply interruption.
- Providing flexibility
The opening up of the natural gas market and its development have greatly changed the needs of the players involved. By enabling a rapid response to peaks in demand, storage has become an essential flexibility tool. It offers reactivity and arbitrage capacity to all market players.
- Optimising gas infrastructure
Located in different parts of the country and an essential link in the gas chain, storage facilities enable the optimisation of gas infrastructure and more efficient use of transmission networks.