Centrica
Rough, which is the UK’s largest gas storage facility, has released stored gas into the grid to help the UK manage higher heating demands during the current period of cold weather.
The UK has among the lowest volumes of gas in storage in Europe, which means that consumers have been particularly hard hit by recent wholesale price rises as lower-priced gas cannot be stored for future use.
Rough was originally opened in 1985 but was closed by Centrica Storage in 2017 because of the need for costly maintenance, which the government declined to subsidise.
However, following significant engineering upgrades, it was brought back online last year, albeit with only 20 per cent of its previous capacity. This capacity was doubled this summer after further upgrades.
Upon reopening, it immediately became the UK’s largest gas storage facility, although its stores have not been used this winter until this week’s cold snap.
This year, Centrica has filled Rough with the equivalent of 18 LNG tankers, and the facility provides enough energy to heat over three million homes every day all winter. At full capacity, Rough can store around 13.5 days of average total UK gas use, including non-domestic users and gas-fired power generation.
Centrica’s long-term ambition is to turn the Rough gas field into the largest long-duration low-carbon energy storage facility in the world, capable of storing both natural gas and hydrogen.
Chris O’Shea, Centrica’s group chief executive, said: “Customers are struggling with high energy bills, which are driven by international energy prices. Gas storage is vital to ensure the UK can manage demand effectively, keeping prices down, and Rough contributes more than 50 per cent of the UK’s total gas storage.
“I’m proud of the actions our team has taken over the last 18 months, including our decision to bring Rough back online to underpin the UK’s energy security. However, we still have the lowest levels of energy storage of the world’s major economies, with the ability to store fewer than eight days of peak winter demand, and this leaves us susceptible to shocks in international markets.
“Gas will continue to be used as a transition fuel for the foreseeable future and we are prepared to invest around £2bn to quadruple the size of Rough and turn it into the world’s biggest methane and hydrogen storage facility. This would improve materially the UK’s energy resilience and support the transition to net zero, but to invest this amount of money we need the right regulatory support framework.”
The UK acquires its gas supplies through connections with Norway and other European countries, as well as three liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals. However, it still has some of the lowest levels of gas storage in Europe at 12 days average or 7.5 peak winter days, compared to Germany at 89 days, France at 103 days and the Netherlands at 123 days.
