Converted salt caverns will boost UK’s gas storage - 01 March 2011

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Atkins is supporting EDF Energy to bring ten large salt caverns into use as fast retrieval gas storage facilities, boosting land-based facilities in the UK. The scheme is part of a push by energy firms to meet the Government’s target to quadruple current underground gas storage by 2021 to cope with extreme weather events such as the recent bout of cold weather.

The caverns, which have maximum diameters greater than the London Eye, are located near Warmingham, north of Crewe in Cheshire. They were bought by EDF Energy in April 2010 from British Salt and will be capable of supplying enough gas to meet the needs of three million average households. They are due to come on line in the Spring of 2011.

EDF Energy is being advised by Dr Evan Passaris of engineering design consultancy, Atkins. Dr Passaris has worked on underground storage schemes in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark, and he is acknowledged as a leading expert on underground gas storage. He says the increasing use of salt caverns will provide a major boost to the UK’s ability to respond to prolonged coldsnaps.

“Salt caverns provide ideal underground gas storage facilities as the geological make-up of the thick layered impervious salt formation creates an ideal gas-tight container,” says Dr Passaris.

“The advantage of using these over other forms of natural storage, such as porous rock found in depleted oil and gas reservoirs, is that salt cavern stored gas can be delivered in large quantities relatively quickly. The caverns are also comparatively easy to fill and it will be possible to retrieve almost all of the stored gas when eventually the facility will be decommissioned.”

The use of salt caverns for gas storage will allow EDF Energy to react quickly to short term needs by providing a significant gain in its ability to meet the forecast energy demand.

Mark O’Brien, EDF Energy project director, said: “Atkins has brought a breadth of knowledge and experience to the project, providing the conceptual design, supporting bid evaluation and negotiation, and proposing project improvement opportunities. Atkins’ staff  think outside of the box, are reliable, respond immediately to our questions and are respected in the industry. They have performed within budget, the quality of delivery is excellent and they have been a pleasure to work with, forming an integral part of our team.”

According to Atkins’ Dr Passaris, bringing more of underground gas storage facilities into operation must be a priority:

“Annual consumption in the UK is currently approximately 103 billion cubic metres.  Storage capacity is less than 5 billion cubic metres or 4% of the annual consumption, compared with 27% in France and 21% in Germany.  Considered another way, in the event of a supply disruption, the UK has only about 14 days of storage, compared to 91 days in France, 77 days in Germany and 65 days in Spain.   However, the UK is catching up and over the last five or six years there has been an impetus in trying to bridge the gap and create the additional storage capacity we need.

“The drive for investment in new caverns won’t produce an overnight transformation for our gas reserve quantities, but now that the UK’s naturally occurring reserves are falling there is a will to reach gas storage parity with other major EU countries”, he said.

Converting the former salt caverns in Warmingham has involved a multi-stage process, starting with an initial geomechanical assessment of each of the ten cavities to ensure its structural integrity complied with strict safety criteria. A second access borehole was then drilled to allow the caverns to be filled with gas from the National Grid in order to flush out the residual brine - this process has just started. Each cavern is typically around 600,000 to 650,000 cubic metres and when in operation gas will be drawn from them equally and supplied back to the Grid.

Ends

For more information:

 
Andy Winstanley
Head of PR 

+44(0)1372 752018 / +44(0)7803 259643

andy.winstanley@atkinsglobal.com

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Notes to editors:

Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) is the UK’s largest engineering and design consultancy and the world’s 11th largest design firm.  We have the depth and breadth of expertise to respond to the most technically challenging and time critical infrastructure projects and the urgent transition to a low-carbon economy. Whether it’s the concept for a new skyscraper, the upgrade of a rail network, the modelling of a flood defence system or the improvement of a management process, we plan, design and enable solutions.

Recent projects include:

• Major infrastructure works, such as the design and programme management of the civil works for the Dubai Metro red and green lines in the UAE;
• Critical programme management of storm protection works in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Southern Louisiana, USA, providing expertise in coastal restoration, engineering, environmental and GIS support to rebuild defences and protect habitats;
• High profile transport planning and urban design – our innovative scheme to deliver a diagonal crossing at Oxford Circus in London, UK, has helped tackle the problem of pedestrian crowding;
• Key rail projects – providing architectural and engineering design services on Crossrail, Europe’s biggest civil engineering project in London, UK, and designing stations, tunnelling and track systems for Gautrain, South Africa’s first high speed line;
• Vital water and environmental projects – as part of a joint venture, Atkins is providing technical assistance to the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme in Nigeria, which will benefit up to three million people;
• Multidisciplinary building design – Northwood Primary School in Darlington, UK, is an exemplar project which raises standards for environmental design and community engagement.

Atkins was named Consultancy of the Year in the CIBSE Low Carbon Performance Awards 2010; received the first ever certification of the Carbon Trust Standard awarded to an engineering consultancy in the construction sector; and was named among The Times Top 50 Companies Where Women Want to Work 2009 and The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2010. Atkins was also construction and civil engineering sector winner for the fifth consecutive year in the Target National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2010 and was awarded a RoSPA Gold Award 2010 for excellence in control of health and safety in the workplace.

Atkins is the official engineering design services provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.  
 

News Source : Converted salt caverns will boost UK’s gas storage - 01 March 2011