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COMPANY PROFILE

2015

Storengy

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The £500m Stublach Project Editorial: Harriet Pattison

Total World Energy speaks to Storengy UK Managing Director, Charlotte Roule, to discuss the progress of the Stublach Project located in Northwich, Cheshire, UK. With the drilling of the first caverns beginning in April 2008 and operations commencing in September 2014, the natural gas storage project will eventually have a total storage capacity of 400 million cubic meters when it is fully operational in 2020. Nestled within the picturesque countryside of Northwich in Cheshire is a rather exciting development project. The salt caver n storage facility, a £500m gas storage project, on completion will be the largest onshore facility of its type in the UK. W ith a total storage

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capacity of 400 million cubic meters (mcm) of natural gas, it will have withdrawal rates of up to 30mm³/d. Storengy UK, a subsidiary of GDF SUEZ, is executing the Stublach project which is the first project for Storengy in the UK.

Gas storage is primarily used to meet variations in demand for, and supply of, gas. During periods of low demand, gas is injected into storage and withdrawn during periods of peak demand. The most important type of gas storage is in underground

Storengy UK reservoirs of which there are three primary types: depleted gas fields - which are the most common and traditionally hold the greatest volumes, aquifers and salt caver ns. All three types have individual physical and economic characteristics which in tur n gover n the suitability of a particular type of storage for a given application. The Stublach site uses salt caver ns. Although a less common option globally, these are well-suited to natural gas storage as the injected natural gas is unable to escape from the storage facility unless it is deliberately extracted. The process of solution mining involves the pumping of fresh water down a borehole into the salt layer. Where the salt is dissolved, a void is created where the water, now saline,

is pumped back up to the surface. All the saline is used in the chemical industry in Cheshire. This process is repeated until the desired size of the caver n is achieved. On completion, these salt caver ns offer an underground natural gas storage vessel with very high deliverability, much higher than either the aquifer or depleted reservoir options. This allows the stored gas to be withdrawn and replenished quickly, which is especially useful during short periods of unexpected demand surges.

THE STUBLACH PROJECT Total World Energy speaks to Storengy UK Managing Director, Charlotte Roule who explains Storengy now has 22 storage sites currently in operation across France, Germany

and now the UK, with 1,000 employees and 12.5 bcm storage capacity. Joining Storengy UK in January 2013, Roule previously worked for Storengy in France on Audit and Performance based activities. This specific Cheshire location was chosen due to “a question of geology”, Roule explains. “When you’re dealing with underground gas storage there are only certain areas where you can do that. Typically for salt caver n storage, you need a layer of salt. At Stublach the salt is not as deep as we are used to in France, but it works well. The site is also well located for access into the National Transmission Grid.” The Stublach project, privately funded by the GDF SUEZ group, was agreed in 2007 with construction work

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in summer 2014 and that’s what we did,” Roule explains.

PROTECTING PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

beginning the following year. It has been commercially operational since 2014. Gas storage is a key part of the energy transition envisaged by GDF SUEZ as a group, which means ensuring that the move to cleaner forms of generation is supported by continued provision of transition fuels like natural gas. “So regarding construction, the first stage was about drilling the caver ns and building the surface facilities that would allow us to operate the caver ns - and doing this in a way that ensured safety for all. It went well, we had to face some difficult weather conditions which is a traditional issue on these kind of projects. We announced to the market we would be ready

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“If you come to the site, there are fields everywhere, it is very beautiful and you can see the storage site but it is mainly underground. Of course, when we were working in the fields it caused some disruption to the local farmers but we worked closely with them to minimise the extent of our works”

Roule explains the project involved securing the consent of the local authority and demonstrating that safety comes first in all activities: “As we created everything, we needed to develop systems and process which would ensure safe operations. We were also keen to work with our neighbours, to ensure our project was accepted which was a priority for Storengy. We set up a local committee to make sure that every question could be addressed and managed, particularly for the very first stage when we drilled the caver ns. “If you come to the site, there are fields everywhere, it is very beautiful and you can see the storage site but it is mainly underground. Of course, when we were working in the fields it caused some disruption to the local farmers but we worked closely with them to minimise the extent of our works. It was important to have local acceptance and the understanding of our neighbours. Regarding the environment, there are some protected species in the area so we wanted to take care of those - even going further than normal obligations. “There weren’t many concer ns in the neighbourhood. The Health and Safety Executive also spent time with us reviewing our design and safety

Storengy UK procedures, just making sure we were doing the right thing and had identified all the risks and to ensure we managed them. Salt caver ns are safe and today, there are no concer ns.”

DELIVERING TO THE MARKET W ith operation at Stublach now underway, Roule explains the next step: “We are delivering three further caver ns right now so they are ready. So we are, by the start of 2015, at five caver ns, which is one hundred million cubic meters of capacity. By 2020, our plan is to go on creating the shape and converting the remaining caver ns. “Generally, we create the salt caver ns in partnership

“We are delivering three further caverns right now so they are ready. So we are, by the start of 2015, at five caverns, which is one hundred million cubic meters of capacity. By 2020, our plan is to go on creating the shape and converting the remaining caverns”

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with the chemical industry which we did here. The chemical industry have a need for this brine, so it can be used for chlorine, soda or even table salt. ” Roule explains. W ith surprisingly little capacity available on the UK market, Roule explains that if you compare the yearly volume of gas consumed to the volume in underground gas storage, the average for Europe stands at 22% compared to just 6% for the UK, so the need in the UK is evident. “We propose our capacity on the market, which is quite unusual for facilities like ours,” Roule adds. “We are in quite a congested area from a National Grid

SCAN ME

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point of view. This is a positive point though, especially for public investment, as there is no need if we provide storage for National Grid to invest more, so just the fact of being there can help. Further to the development of the second group of 10 caver ns, we will have to add some surface facilities in order to maintain the performance we want for the whole site.”

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A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE

“When Stublach is finished, what we do is we remain fully involved in the area and we aim at developing innovation in the wider sense with local partners”

W ith a project of such magnitude and importance, Roule explains the first step was to have geothermal experts in house in order to access the interest of the project to establish whether it is worth investing and also describes it as a good way to demonstrate distinction from other potential investors. “After that, you need some other project skills, starting

Storengy UK with health and safety and then including a range of skills from drilling to thermal dynamics,” Roule adds. “On the project, we had to build everything, so you will find people dealing with concrete, digging and having the holes closed. So it’s really about geoscience first of all, thermal dynamics and then electrical and mechanical engineering. “We took a lot of experience from our operations in France and Germany. We used expertise there in helping us to understand the underground and surface facilities and the way to maximise the safe performance of the site. The commissioning and start-up activities also require specialist skills.” Looking to the future and much of Storengy UK’s energy is focused on the aim of Stublach having 20 caverns by 2020 but Roule explains there are definitely more exciting plans in the pipeline: “When Stublach is finished, what we do is we remain fully involved in the area and we aim at developing innovation in the wider sense with local partners. “We are currently discussing with some university partners. It’s only the beginning but the idea is to take the benefits of this experience and see what we could do further. That’s the idea,” Roule concludes

“So it’s really about geoscience first of all, thermal dynamics and then electrical and mechanical engineering”

Charlotte Roule

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