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New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
Centrica re-opens Rough storage facility as UK sets new wind power record
2/11/2022
The Rough gas storage facility is reopening in time for winter, increasing the UK’s storage capacity by 50%. Meanwhile, the UK recently set a new record for electricity produced from onshore and offshore wind.
Centrica has announced the reopening of the Rough gas storage facility, having completed significant engineering upgrades over the summer and commissioning over early autumn. The initial investment programme means the company has made its first injection of gas into the site in over five years and is in a position to store up to 30bn cf of gas for UK homes and businesses over winter 2022/2023, boosting the UK’s energy resilience.
The work done so far means that Rough 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 country’s gas storage volume. Rough will help to balance the UK’s gas market, injecting gas into the facility when prices are low and putting that gas back into the UK’s gas network when demand is higher.
Centrica’s long-term aim is to turn the Rough gas field into the largest long duration energy storage facility in Europe, capable of storing both natural gas and hydrogen.
The UK has diverse gas supplies with connections with Norway and other European countries and a number of LNG import terminals. However, according to Centrica, it still has some of the lowest levels of gas storage in Europe at nine days, compared to Germany at 89 days, France at 103 days and the Netherlands at 123 days.
New electricity generation record set by UK wind
Meanwhile, news statistics from National Grid ESO show that UK onshore and offshore wind farms generated a record high of 19,936 MW of power on 26 October 2022, providing more than half of the country’s electricity and beating the previous record of 19,916 MW set on 25 May this year, according to RenewableUK.
‘As we head towards winter, it’s reassuring for people to know that Britain’s onshore and offshore wind farms are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to keeping the lights on and reducing our reliance on expensive gas imports,’ comments Dan McGrail, RenewableUK’s Chief Executive. ‘That’s why it’s important to speed up and scale up on the amount of onshore and offshore wind capacity we’re installing – to boost our energy security and to reduce electricity bills for consumers, as new wind projects generate electricity cheaper than any other source.’
