British Storage Capacity Not a Major Problem, says Davey

Britain does not rely on gas from storage, said Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey on Monday. 

“Few countries have the amount of gas (we have) from domestic production and via pipelines from countries with secure supply like Norway. In the UK we are not reliant on gas from storage, far from it,” Davey told a House of Lords’ committee.

Davey said that British storage capacity would be strengthened.

“New gas storage has come online recently and there are 12 major projects with planning consent,” he said. 

According to Reuters, British storage capacity can hold just 15 days’ worth of demand, compared with over 100 days in France and Germany. Historically, British gas system relied heavily on national production. It is increasingly dependent on imports as the conventional gas production in the North Sea is slimming down.

Davey claimed that the Government is going in the right direction, effectively intervening to correct the dimished local production of the last decade.