The UK’s ability to store large quantities of gas is essential to ensure security of our energy supply and price stability.
At the same time, hydrogen will play a key role in the UK’s plans to reduce the amount of carbon produced in power generation and by industry.
Costain has decades of experience in designing and delivering complex gas storage infrastructure, including working with a number of European utility organisations across all phases of the project lifecycle, from concept, investment support, project execution planning, front end design, and planning development, to consent, project delivery, and asset and operational support.
Our experience in traditional storage solutions for natural gas is increasingly being applied to hydrogen and the next generation of energy supply. Our design solutions cater for varying feed gas conditions, large and flexible capacity range, fast start-up and shutdown, and low energy consumption.
Customer: Storengy UK – Keuper Gas Storage Project – ready for project execution
Date: Present - 2026
Designing the Keuper Gas Storage Project (KGSP), an underground hydrogen storage facility near Northwich in Cheshire.
Costain’s multi-disciplinary engineering team will deliver two front-end engineering and design (FEED) contracts to support its development.
- Brine and Water facilities FEED to solution mine 19 salt caverns in the Holford Brinefields. The new caverns will be located 600m below ground.
- Hydrogen facilities FEED to store hydrogen in the 19 salt caverns together with hydrogen treatment, compression, dehydration and transfer facilities.
- The facility will be designed to store a working gas volume of approximately 400 million cubic metres (mcm) of hydrogen, equivalent to storing 1,300 gigawatt hours of hydrogen. It will transfer hydrogen to a network being developed as part of HyNet.
Date: 2024 - 2025
We worked collaboratively with Storengy and Inovyn to develop the KGSP FEED design in preparation for the FEED and project execution. Costain completed design studies, a 10 year execution programme and the capital cost estimates for the facilities.
Customer: Inovyn – Keuper Gas Storage Project – transition from natural gas to hydrogen
Date: 2021 - 2022
Developing a hydrogen storage facility for Inovyn as part of the HyNet North West innovative low carbon and hydrogen energy project – one of the UK’s leading industrial decarbonisation ventures.
Solution
We worked collaboratively to deliver a first- of-a-kind project for large scale hydrogen storage in salt caverns in Cheshire. The hydrogen storage facility, located in the southern part of the Holford Brinefields, stores up to 1.3 TWh of hydrogen underground in salt cavities.
Costain developed the conceptual design for the hydrogen facility including the selection of key technology. We adapted the natural gas storage design to successfully withdraw and inject hydrogen whilst meeting the requirements of the Keuper Gas Storage Project Development Consent Order.
Costain completed a targeted FEED study to further develop the concept design and support Inovyn's decision making.
Outcome
- Concept and FEED for large scale hydrogen storage.
- 1.3TWh excess hydrogen could be stored underground in salt cavities, to be used in the hydrogen network in peak periods.
- Storing hydrogen at scale is key to unlocking the UK’s potential to become a leading hydrogen economy.
Customer: HySecure – Hydrogen storage development concept
Date: 2019
Developing a new demonstration cavern to store 50 GWh of hydrogen in the North West. Costain provided specialist technical support for the concept development during the feasibility study phase.
"We have decades of experience in delivering salt cavern gas storage facilities and we’ll apply this knowledge to the rapidly growing hydrogen economy, designing safe and secure storage systems that will be critical to creating a sustainable future."
Sam White Managing director for the natural resources at Costain
Customer: Storengy – Stublach Gas Storage Plant
Date: 2007 - 2008
Delivery of brine and water plant infrastructure to develop 28 caverns for gas storage.
Solution
Delivered conceptual studies, FEED, detailed design, procurement, construction management and commissioning support.
Outcome
- Full design and construction of brine and water facilities to create leach caverns 600m below ground.
- Installation of 26,000m of underground pipework and construction of first 10 wellsites.
- Flexible design using two pass solution mining to optimise cavern leaching within available water and brine limits.
Customer: E.ON Gas Storage – Holford Gas Storage Project
Date: 2008 - 2012
Development of underground salt caverns into gas storage facilities to increase the UK’s gas storage capacity and balance daily gas market.
Solution
FEED verification, detailed engineering, procurement, construction management and commissioning of the gas processing plant and associated infrastructure.
Outcome
- Installed three trains with 8MW centrifugal compressors and high pressure underground pipelines.
- Construction of eight underground salt caverns (600m below ground) with a capacity of 160 million m3.
- Injection and withdrawal rate of up to 22 million m3/day.
- Multiple modes of operation and a high level of automation with year-round availability.
- Rapid response to daily fluctuations in gas demand.
