UK in talks to reopen giant gas storage facility for winter

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The government is in talks with Centrica about reopening a giant gas storage facility if European supplies from Russia are disrupted.

Contingency plans are being explored ahead of winter because of the war in Ukraine.

The government refused to subsidise the Centrica facility in Yorkshire.

The government may be willing to help reestablish a strategic gas reserve.

The talks are part of plans for a worst case scenario in which Russia shuts off all gas supplies to Europe and Norwegian gas supplies are diverted from the UK to Europe.

Extending the life of the coal fired power plants in the UK is one of the plans. The Business Secretary instructed the Electricity System Operator to explore what would be needed to extend production after writing to the owners.

The government has been in touch with the company to see if there was a way to extend the life of the nuclear plant.

The UK is reliant on Norway for a third of its natural gas supplies. Norwegian supplies might be diverted if the European Union boycotts supplies from Russia because of the attack on Ukraine.

40% of the EU's gas supplies come from Russia.

The UK imports liquified natural gas from the US.

There has been a lot of natural gas arriving in the UK in recent weeks as suppliers use the UK's terminals as a hub for deliveries to Europe. There is no place to store the tanker.

Centrica's facility in Rough, Yorkshire can hold between 10 and 12 days worth of the UK's gas needs. Industry experts say that they can hold up to six days worth of UK gas demand by this winter if they start work now.

Five years ago, Centrica told the government that the investment needed to extend its life made no economic sense for a private company.

According to a company insider, the government declined to subsidise the facility if the market didn't think it made sense.

Government sources said there was a low chance that Russia would cut off gas supplies to the EU.

Many Norwegian gas sources are connected to the UK and could not be diverted.

The Hinkley Point B nuclear plant was due to come off line in July of this year, but has already had its life extended from an original date of 2011.

The timing was very tight and the cost would not be without.

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He said that it is not easy and that the added safety case is what makes it difficult.

The government is waiting for evidence on the business case and the safety implications of an extension before making a formal request to EDF.

Any extension to the operating life of a nuclear power station would need a robust safety case produced by the operator to demonstrate that the plant is safe to run.

A team of expert ONR inspectors would thoroughly assess the evidence.

Chris Philp, the government minister, said that the contingency plans were a sensible measure given that the gas supply coming out of Russia and Ukraine was heavily disrupted.

A lot of ours comes from Norway and in the form of liquified natural gas, but of course disruption to the global gas market will have a knock on effect on the UK.