‘UK Has a Week’s Worth of Gas in Storage’

Date: 30 October 2022 - 21:43

News ID: ۱۰۸۴۲۶

LONDON (Dispatches) -- British Gas, a subsidiary of Britain’s largest energy supplier Centrica, has warned that it has about a week’s worth of gas left in its storage facilities amid an energy crunch across Europe.

The UK with nine days’ storage has one of the lowest levels of gas storage in Europe, compared to Germany which has 89 days’ worth, France at 103 and the Netherlands at 123, Centrica said.

To add to its storage capacity, the company is reopening

its Rough gas site which had been closed due to technical problems in the past.

The facility beneath the North Sea off the Yorkshire coast will be the UK’s largest gas storage site and bolster the UK’s gas capacity by 50 percent, Centrica has said.

Rough had been partially closed in 2016, but Centrica announced in June 2017 that it would shut the site altogether, warning that the 32-year-old facility was at the end of its design life and could no longer be operated safely. The British Gas owner had said that a refurbishment of Rough would “not be economic”.

Centrica now says reopening the facility will increase the UK’s gas capacity by 50 percent, helping the Brits pass the harsh winter.

“Rough is not a silver bullet for energy security, but it is a key part of a range of steps which can be taken to help the UK this winter,” Centrica Group Chief Executive Chris O’Shea said.

“In the short term we think Rough can help our energy system by storing natural gas when there is a surplus and producing this gas when the country needs it during cold snaps and peak demand.”

The reopening of the Rough facility comes after Britain’s National Grid warned that Britons could face three-hour planned power cuts if there is a shortage of gas this winter.

The head of the National Grid warned British households that blackouts may be imposed between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on “really, really cold” winter weekdays.

John Pettigrew said electricity and gas may be switched off on “those deepest, darkest evenings in January and February”.