The UK will reopen the biggest gas storage facility and will soon start filling it for the winter. The information was released by the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph on Monday, August 15th.

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is set to start pumping natural gas to the Rough storage facility in early September, with operators securing approval from the Health and Safety Authority (HSE).

All that is needed is an agreement between Centrica and the British government on state support, as well as formal permission to resume operations for the North Sea Transitional Authority (NSTA), which, according to the paper, “does not seems problematic”.

In the interest of energy security

Filling is expected to begin in just over two weeks. The facility has not been used for gas storage since 2017. UK Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Quasi Kwarteng, has called for it to be put into operation to help bolster energy security.

Five years ago, Centrica stated that the Rough’s life had come to an end and its operation could not be safe, as there were doubts about the integrity of several compartments.

The facility is designed to store around 3.4 billion cubic meters of gas.

The facility previously accounted for around 70% of all UK gas capacity and is designed to store around 3.4 billion cubic metres.

In addition, about 5 billion cubic meters more created a “cushion” to maintain the necessary pressure. Rough is located on the east coast of England.

Centrica intends to have about 800 million cubic meters of gas stored on site this winter and 1.7 billion cubic meters next winter, after the storage returns to operation.

Current outstanding storage capacity is only 1.6 billion cubic meters.

Moscow pressure

The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, warned on June 22 that Europe must be prepared for a complete shutdown of Russian gas next winter. According to him, the current reduction in supply should be seen as a harbinger of its complete cessation.

“Moscow is trying to use gas as a pressure factor in the ongoing war with Ukraine. The closer we get to winter, the better we understand Russia’s intentions. and increase Russia’s stockpile influence during the winter months,” Birol pointed out.