Investments in a secure natural gas supply for Europe /
Second largest storage facility in Central Europe comes on stream
WINGAS GmbH is investing in a secure supply of energy for Europe: the company will build additional natural gas storage facilities in Europe at a cost of several hundred million euros. Alongside the largest natural gas storage facility in Western Europe, run by WINGAS and situated in Rehden in North Germany, and the storage facility in Haidach near Salzburg (Austria), which recently started operations, further storage capacities in England (in Saltfleetby) and in Jemgum near the German-Dutch border are to be set up. “In realizing these storage projects we are continuing to expand our position as one of the leading providers of storage capacities in Europe”, WINGAS Chairman Dr. Rainer Seele explained. The energy company can store about 30 percent of its annual sales volume as back up. “Overall, WINGAS is creating storage capacity in Europe for up to 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas together with its partners”, Dr. Seele added.
Natural gas storage facilities play a very important role in providing Europe with a secure gas supply; it is the use of storage facilities that guarantees the stable availability of this environment-friendly energy medium in the required volumes. Storage facilities enable a balance between gas production and gas consumption: during times of low demand surplus volumes can be absorbed and in peak consumption periods the additionally required gas volumes can be obtained quickly from the storage facilities. ”However, since the European Union is having to import increasing amounts of natural gas, the need for additional storage facilities will rise accordingly”, the WINGAS Chairman explained. Moreover, alongside the traditional task of seasonal adjustment, storage facilities are also becoming increasingly sought after to optimize the purchasing process and make it more flexible. “Hence there is a growing interest on the European market in this form of usage because the European market requires stable structures for its natural gas supplies”, Dr. Seele reported. “Additional underground storage facilities are thus also forward-looking investments”.
Moreover, in order to boost the growth opportunities in natural gas storage, WINGAS has set up the Gas Storage unit which brings together the many years of expertise in marketing storage facilities and developing technical services. As an example, the company is offering its customers the WINSTORE storage products from 1 July 2007. With the unique WINSTORE concept, the only one of its kind so far in Germany, access to the WINGAS natural gas storage facilities will become more transparent, faster and much simpler. “In particular processing and billing will be easier for the customer”, Dr. Seele commented.
The WINGAS storage facilities and storage projects at a glance:
With the natural gas storage facility in Rehden, south of Bremen, WINGAS has at its disposal the largest storage facility in Western Europe. On an area of some eight square kilometres, over four billion cubic meters of natural gas are stored more than 2000 meters underground here – enough to supply two million single-family homes with natural gas for a year. The original natural gas reservoir was gradually used up by BASF subsidiary Wintershall from the 1950’s and then, from 1993, operated as a storage site by WINGAS.
In addition, WINGAS recently opened the second-largest natural gas storage facility in Central Europe in Haidach near Salzburg (Austria) together with OOO GAZPROM EXPORT and Rohöl-Aufsuchungs AG (RAG). Once a further phase of construction has been completed it will be possible to store up to 2.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas here. Implementation of the second construction phase of this storage facility will probably begin at the end of 2008. The total investment volume for Haidach for both construction phases is 250 million euros. RAG is responsible for the construction and technical operation. WINGAS will use its storage capacities at Haidach to structure and secure its supplies to Southern Germany, among other things. A 39-kilometer gas pipeline connects the storage site to the German-Austrian gas hub in Burghausen/Überackern.
The Haidach natural gas reservoir was discovered by RAG in 1997 at a depth of 1,600 meters. Since the start of production in 1998 more than 2.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas have been produced for the Austrian market. The reservoir extends over 17.5 square kilometres and the sandstone, whose pores contain the gas, is around 100 meters deep with massive shale layers located on top. Due to the high permeability of the reservoir rock, around one million cubic meters of natural gas can be withdrawn from the storage per hour.
With the Saltfleetby gas field acquired at the end of 2004, another project to further expand Europe's natural gas storage capacity is on the horizon. It will be conducted jointly with ZMB Gasspeicher Holding GmbH, a subsidiary of Gazprom. However, there are currently delays in the authorization process - caused by the local planning authority in the UK - for the building permit for the storage project. The Saltfleetby facility will accommodate more than 700 million cubic meters of natural gas. “This storage facility will take on a strategically important function on the market, especially in supplying our local customers”, the WINGAS Chairman said.
A new storage facility will also be appearing in Jemgum in North Germany in the next few years. Because of its underground salt domes the area around Jemgum is especially suitable for storing natural gas and lies in the direct vicinity of the Nord Stream connecting pipelines, which will in future transport Russian gas via Germany to the Netherlands and the UK. The geological conditions allow caverns to be created at depths of 1,000 to 1,500 meters. “We are creating assets and making sustainable investments in our business. The Jemgum storage facility will become another core element in our portfolio for the long-term security of supply to our German and Western European customers”, Dr. Seele explained.
