The Anonymous Widower

Centrica’s Rough Storage Facility Pumps Gas Into Grid To Meet Increased Demand

The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Centrica.

This is the sub-heading.

The UK’s largest gas storage facility, Rough, has released stored gas into the grid to help the UK both manage higher heating demand during the current cold weather and keep prices down. This is the first time Rough has released gas this winter.

These three paragraphs describe how Centrica are using Rough and how they will use it in the future.

This year, Centrica has filled Rough with the equivalent of 18 LNG tankers. Rough provides enough energy to heat over 3 million homes, every day, all winter, keeping families warm and bills down.

Rough is the UK’s largest gas storage facility. It stopped storing gas in 2017 but was re-opened for gas storage in October 2022, and its capacity was doubled in the summer of 2023. The facility, which is 18 miles off the coast of East Yorkshire, now provides half of the UK’s total gas storage.

Centrica’s long-term ambition is to turn the Rough gas field into the largest long duration low carbon energy storage facility in the world, capable of storing both natural gas and hydrogen.

It does seem that Centrica have handled the Rough facility well.

But I do feel that Centrica are playing a bigger game.

• In Lhyfe And Centrica To Develop Offshore Renewable Green Hydrogen In The UK, I talk about how Centrica will produce hydrogen offshore.
• Would this hydrogen be conveniently produced near to Rough?
• Rough allow Centrica to buy gas at a low price and sell high. Rough could be a neat little profit centre?
• I suspect lessons learned at Rough, could be applied to other gas storage facilities?
• Centrica have taken a substantial stke in HiiROC, who are developing a new way of producing green hydrogen.
• In Centrica Partners With Hull-Based HiiRoc For Hydrogen Fuel Switch Trial At Humber Power Plant, I talk about how Centrica are helping HiiROC with full scale trials.

I certainly like what they’re doing.

November 28, 2023 - Posted by AnonW | Energy, Energy Storage, Hydrogen | Centrica, HiiROC, Rough Gas Storage