Britain’s largest gas storage to be reopened

The UK’s largest gas storage facility, Rough, mothballed in 2017, will resume work, reports The Telegraph. Centrica, which owns the gas storage, is ready to start filling it from the beginning of September.

The Health and Safety Authority has already approved the reopening of the facility. Now Centrica needs to agree on state support, as well as obtain permission from the North Sea Transitional Authority. The publication notes that both of these tasks “do not seem problematic.”

Britain’s Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwazi Kwarteng has asked for the facility to be reopened to “strengthen energy security” of the country. But the facility is expected to run at only a quarter of its capacity this coming winter, The Telegraph notes.

In total, the gas storage can be filled with about 3.4 billion cubic meters. m of natural gas. In 2017, this represented approximately 70% of the UK’s total storage capacity. The current total volume of gas stored in the country is estimated at only 1.6 billion cubic meters. m.

Last week Centrica signed £7bn ($8.5bn) deal with US LNG supplier Delfin Midstream. In accordance with the agreement, the companies will ship 1 million tons of LNG per year to the UK by sea.

Deputy Prime Minister of Romania Hunor Kelemen spokethat the upcoming winter for Europe may be the most difficult in the last 40-60 years due to the lack of natural gas. It arose against the backdrop of sanctions, under which Western countries refuse to purchase gas from the Russian Federation. In August, the European Union (EU) agreed voluntary reduction of gas consumption by 15% in winter.

How the EU is trying to reduce gas consumption, read the material “Kommersant” “Burning minimum”.

Laura Keffer