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(Alliance News) - Centrica PLC on Friday announced the reopening of the Rough natural gas storage facility off the east coast of England after completing "significant engineering upgrades" over the summer.
Centrica, which owns British Gas, said the facility is operational for winter. The facility increases the UK's storage capacity by 50% despite it operating at just 20% of its previous capacity.
The investment programme means the company has made its first injection of gas into the site in over five years and is in a position to store up to 30 billion cubic feet of gas for UK homes and businesses over the winter. This makes it the UK's largest gas storage site.
Centrica said Rough will help to balance the UK's gas market by injecting gas into the facility when prices are low and putting gas back into the network when demand is higher.
The UK has some of the lowest levels of gas storage in Europe at just nine days compared to 89 days in Germany, 103 days in France and 123 days in the Netherlands.
The Rough facility was closed by Centrica in 2017 because it was too costly and the UK government refused to subsidise repairs.
Centrica Group Chief Executive, Chris O'Shea, said "I'm delighted that we have managed to return Rough to storage operations for this winter following a substantial investment in engineering modifications. Our long-term aim remains to turn the Rough field into the world's biggest methane and hydrogen storage facility, bolstering the UK's energy security, delivering a net zero electricity system by 2035, decarbonising the UK's industrial clusters, such as the Humber region by 2040, and helping the UK economy by returning to being a net exporter of energy."
Shares in Centrica were trading 0.3% higher at 69.82 pence each in London on Friday morning.
By Chris Dorrell; chrisdorrell@alliancenews.com
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