UK Safety Watchdog Approves Reopening Of Country's Biggest Gas Storage Facility

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th August, 2022) The UK Health and Safety Executive on Monday greenlighted the reopening of the kingdom's biggest gas storage facility, Rough, with pumping being planned to begin in September.

UK gas company Centrica, the owner of British Gas, announced the shutdown of Rough, located off the east coast of the United Kingdom, in 2017. The company noted that the facility could not be operated safely and doubted the integrity of its wells. Rough had been storing approximately 70% of UK gas or about 3.4 billion cubic meters.

"Offshore gas installations must have an accepted document known as a safety case to operate. We've been made aware of changes to the safety case for the Rough B Offshore Installation, we have assessed these and they have been accepted," a spokesman for the government agency said, as quoted by The Telegraph.

Centrica is currently in talks with the British government on state support, a government source told The Telegraph, adding that final consents from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) are required so that the facility could be reopened.

The source added that these issues are "not seen as problematic."

The Telegraph cited a spokesman for the NSTA as saying that the company is now required to submit a gas storage development plan so the consent for storing gas can be granted.

The source noted that the company is aiming to conclude talks and begin filling up the facility within two weeks.

"We have operated this asset for decades and know it very well. Significant investment in the asset has continued following the decision to cease storage in 2017. The main reason we could return Rough is that we would increase its capacity in phases, ahead of each winter, so that we can carry out any required work to allow capacity to be increased safely," Centrica's spokesman said, as quoted by the newspaper.

The company is planning to pump about 800 million cubic meters of gas into Rough for this winter and about 1.7 billion for the next one.