Centrica has announced that the Rough gas storage facility, located in the North Sea, will reopen, having undergone significant engineering upgrades over the summer and commissioning over autumn.
This will be the first gas injection into the site in over five years and will establish Rough’s ability to store up to 30 billion cubic feet (849 million m3) of gas for UK homes and businesses over winter.
Completed work at Rough means it is operating at around 20% of its previous capacity this winter, immediately making it the UK’s largest gas storage site once again and adding 50% to the UK’s gas storage volume. Rough will help balance the UK’s gas market, injecting gas into the facility when prices are low and putting it back into the UK’s gas network when demand is high.
Centrica group chief executive, Chris O’Shea, says: ‘I’m delighted that we have managed to return Rough to storage operations for this winter following a substantial investment in engineering modifications. Our long-term aim remains to turn the Rough field into the world’s biggest methane and hydrogen storage facility bolstering the UK’s energy security, delivering a net zero electricity system by 2035, decarbonising the UK’s industrial clusters, such as the Humber region by 2040, and helping the UK economy by returning to being a net exporter of energy.’
