Keuper Gas Storage Project
The Keuper Gas Storage Project (KGSP) is being developed in partnership between INEOS Inovyn and Storengy UK. Keuper Gas Storage Limited (KGSL) is the project developer. The project will store hydrogen rather than natural gas, improve the associated infrastructure and allow connection to the HyNet Hydrogen Pipeline, the regional hydrogen and carbon capture project planned to produce, store and transport hydrogen around the North West of England and North Wales.
Cheshire’s unique geology makes it one of the few places in the UK where gas can be safely stored underground in salt cavities. The storage cavities would be created using a technique called solution mining, which is a tried and tested method used by INOVYN and its predecessors for the last 90 years. During cavity development, the shape of the cavity is controlled using a layer of nitrogen and monitored by sonar surveys. Once cavities have been formed to the correct size and shape for the storage of hydrogen, the brine will be removed and replaced with hydrogen.
This method has been used to produce the existing gas storage cavities in the area. To underpin the UK’s efforts to help tackle climate change and reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, Keuper Gas Storage Limited is planning the UK’s largest hydrogen storage facility on a site between Lach Dennis and Middlewich in Cheshire. The project forms an important element of the HyNet North West network.
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A community benefit fund is expected to total over £400,000 across 10 years of construction and will be available for local projects
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The project is expected to support up to 300 construction jobs and around 30 operational roles.
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Once solution mined, the cavities will have the capacity to store some 1300-gigawatt hours of hydrogen – which KGSL states is 'more clean energy than any other facility'.
