The UK energy company Centrica has increased the UK’s gas storage capacity by 50% with the reopening of the Rough gas storage facility, located in the North Sea, off the coast of Withernsea, northern England, which has a total storage capacity of 120 bcf (3.4 bcm). After being shut down in 2017, the aging facility was reopened after Centrica completed significant engineering upgrades over the summer of 2022. In August, Centrica gained approval from safety inspectors for the facility to be brought back into service. Before it was closed, Rough represented more than 70% of UK storage and supplied 10% of peak winter demand.
Currently, the facility is running at 20% of its previous capacity and will be capable of storing 30 bcf (850 mcm) of gas for the upcoming winter, just as many European countries are trying to fill up their gas storage in light of the situation in Ukraine and strained relations with Russia. However, even at only one-fifth of its capacity, the Rough facility is the UK’s largest single gas storage site and will add 50% to the amount of gas that the UK can store at a given time.
On the long term, the company aims to convert the Rough facility into the largest long-duration storage facility in Europe, capable of storing both natural gas and hydrogen.