Tank Storage Association: The European Tank Storage Sector In Focus

Executive director of the Tank Storage Association, Peter Davidson, discusses the energy infrastructure industry providing critical service in the UK… The bulk storage and energy infrastructure sector plays a vital role in providing services that are critical to UK, European and global consumers. The sector supports an essential interface between sea, road, rail and pipeline logistics for a diverse range of products that are essential to our daily lives, including transport and heating fuels, chemicals, animal feed and foodstuffs. Terminals also provide greater resilience within the supply chain by ensuring flexibility to meet demand, particularly in periods where domestic supplies of stored products cannot be guaranteed. Around twenty-two of the terminals operated by our members in the UK are designated by the government as critical national infrastructure due to their importance in providing energy to industrial, transport and defence markets. Storage capacity also includes strategic reserves held for emergencies and supply disruptions. Energy Trilemma Most recently, the ‘energy trilemma’ of security, affordability and sustainability has come into sharper focus owing...