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Natural gas storage in the UK
Gas storage plays a crucial role in the flexibility and security of the UK energy system. This article explains the current status of the UK’s gas storage facilities and their impact on gas and electricity supplies. We cover:
- What is natural gas storage?
- Gas storage facilities in the UK
- Gas storage capacity in the UK
- The impact of gas storage on wholesale gas prices
- Gas storage on the National Transmission System
What is natural gas storage?
Natural gas storage is the process of storing surplus gas in large-scale facilities, so it can be used when demand increases. Stored gas acts as a buffer for the national gas system, helping to balance seasonal demand, respond to supply disruptions, and support more stable gas prices.
Types of natural gas storage
Gas storage facilities in the UK use two main methods of gas storage, each providing different functions in balancing supply and demand on the gas network:
- Salt cavern: Underground cavities created by dissolving salt formations. These are well-suited to high-deliverability storage and allow large volumes of gas to be injected into the network quickly when needed.
- Depleted field: These are former gas fields that have been depleted of their natural gas and repurposed for storage. They are often used for longer-term, seasonal storage due to their slower withdrawal rates.
Gas storage facilities in the UK
There are nine active natural gas storage facilities in the UK, providing a combined storage capacity of 3.2 billion cubic metres.
The table below lists all nine UK gas storage facilities, showing their locations, owners, storage types, and how much gas each can store relative to national demand.
| Owner | Site | Location | Type | Capacity (billion cubic meters) | Capacity (GWh) | Capacity days (average gas use) | Capacity days (peak gas use) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scottish and Southern Energy & Equinor | Aldbrough | East Yorkshire | Salt cavern | 0.29 | 3,190 | 1.7 | 0.6 |
| Uniper | Holford | Cheshire | Salt cavern | 0.24 | 2,640 | 1.4 | 0.5 |
| Scottish and Southern Energy | Hornsea | East Yorkshire | Salt cavern | 0.31 | 3,410 | 1.8 | 0.6 |
| EDF Trading | Holehouse Farm | Cheshire | Salt cavern | 0.02 | 220 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Humbly Grove Energy | Humbly Grove | Hampshire | Depleted field | 0.28 | 3,080 | 1.6 | 0.6 |
| Scottish Power | Hatfield Moor | South Yorkshire | Depleted field | 0.11 | 1,210 | 0.6 | 0.2 |
| EDF Energy | Hill Top Farm | Cheshire | Salt cavern | 0.06 | 660 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Storenergy | Stublach | Cheshire | Salt cavern | 0.41 | 4,510 | 2.4 | 0.9 |
| Centrica (British Gas) | Rough | Southern North Sea | Depleted field | 1.51 | 16,610 | 8.8 | 3.1 |
| Total: | 3.2 | 35,530 | 18.8 | 6.7 |
Source: gov.uk: Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES): natural gas
The largest gas storage facility, Rough, is located offshore in the North Sea. Once a producing gas field, Rough has been converted to store gas and is connected to Britain’s natural gas distribution network.
Most of the other storage sites are clustered in Yorkshire and Cheshire, where the geology has created ideal underground salt caverns. Their central location makes them well placed to supply gas to the network during periods of high demand.
Gas storage capacity in the UK
The UK has approximately 3.2 billion cubic metres of natural gas storage capacity (equivalent to around 35,530 GWh of energy) spread across nine operational sites.
The figures below show the UK’s gas storage capacity in terms of the number of days it could meet gas demand:
- Average daily gas consumption (1,900 GWh): 18.8 days
- Peak winter gas demand (5,300 GWh): 6.7 days
Even when completely full, the UK’s gas storage facilities can store only around 19 days of average consumption, and less than a week during peak winter demand.
Impact of gas storage on energy security
The UK’s limited gas storage capacity makes its energy system more vulnerable to disruption.
In the absence of significant storage capacity, Britain relies heavily on the continued delivery of gas from Liquefied Natural Gas terminals and the Langeled pipeline from Norway.
Both of these sources of natural gas imports can be affected by geopolitical events. Recent examples include:
- Conflict in Iran: The 2026 conflict in Iran disrupted the passage of LNG ships through the Strait of Hormuz, restricting global gas supplies.
- Conflict in Ukraine: The conflict in Ukraine continues to restrict the supply of piped natural gas into Europe.
Low storage levels mean that any restriction in supply from these sources has an immediate impact on the wholesale gas market, sharply pushing up consumer prices and affecting the wider economy.
How does this compare to the EU?
The European Union has far more extensive gas storage infrastructure than the UK. Collectively, EU countries have underground storage sites able to hold approximately 100 billion cubic metres of natural gas, around 30 times greater than the UK’s capacity.
In the EU, natural gas storage is considered a core energy security buffer. When full, EU gas storage facilities can meet around three months of gas demand.
EU rules require member states to fill storage facilities to over 90% of capacity before the start of each winter.
The impact of gas storage on wholesale gas prices
Fundamentally, the wholesale gas market allows domestic and business energy suppliers to purchase gas for their customers from domestic producers in the North Sea and from importers connected to the gas network.
The wholesale gas price represents the price per unit of gas traded between participants in the wholesale gas market.
This section explains the key reasons gas storage facilities have a direct impact on wholesale gas prices.
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Storage competes with producers and importers
When gas storage facilities are full, they can release significant volumes of gas onto the network.
The released gas is sold on the wholesale market as a direct alternative to supply from producers and importers.
The increased availability of gas increases supply in the market, pushing down prices.
The opposite occurs when storage levels are low. In the absence of gas released from storage operators, suppliers must rely more heavily on purchasing from importers and producers, which raises market prices.
Storage determines how much supply can respond to demand spikes
In the UK, gas demand is volatile, with consumption increasing sharply during cold periods when gas boilers are used to heat properties.
Gas storage facilities enable the gas market to respond to weather-driven changes in demand by storing gas during the summer when demand and prices are lower, and then releasing it onto the network during periods of high demand.
For this reason, gas storage facilities help make wholesale gas prices less volatile.
The effect of the UK’s limited storage on gas prices
During peak winter consumption, the UK has only around a week’s worth of natural gas held in reserve.
Without a storage back-up, the market must rely on the global LNG market to provide additional gas when supply is short.
In times of supply shortage, market participants may pay for LNG cargoes already in transit to be diverted to one of the UK’s LNG terminals.
Diverting LNG shipments is an expensive way to secure additional supply and can push up wholesale gas prices, which in turn increases domestic and business gas prices.
Since a large portion of electricity on the national grid is generated using natural gas, this also has the effect of increasing domestic and business electricity prices.
Regardless of the current state of natural gas storage, find the best tariffs currently available on the market using our business electricity comparison service.
Gas storage on the National Transmission System
The natural gas network on the British mainland is composed of the high-pressure National Transmission System, which feeds gas power stations and the regional gas distribution networks that supply individual homes and businesses.
Domestic and business gas suppliers rely on the National Transmission System to maintain sufficient pressure in the gas network, ensuring that demand from all domestic and business gas connections is always met.
Gas storage facilities in Britain play a key role in balancing supply and demand on the network. Here, we explain the two distinct roles gas storage facilities provide in balancing supply and demand:
Rapid demand response
Salt cavern gas storage facilities have high deliverability and can rapidly inject gas into the network during periods of high demand.
These facilities help stabilise pressure in the gas network, preventing shortages when there are spikes in demand during cold snaps.
Seasonal storage
Depleted field storage sites have higher storage capacity but lower deliverability rates. These storage sites allow gas to be stored during the summer months, when demand is lower and gas is cheaper, and then released in the winter to meet higher demand.
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