The Keuper gas storage project (KGSP) is an underground hydrogen storage facility in Northwich, Cheshire.
It will consist of 19 salt caverns together with hydrogen treatment, compression, dehydration and transfer facilities. Costain will deliver two front-end engineering and design (FEED) contracts to support its development.
The 拢300m 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.
The first FEED will look at solution mining, which will involve water being pumped hundreds of metres underground to dissolve the salt. The resultant brine solution is then extracted to create a cavern, with the salt solution transported from the cavern via existing underground pipelines to local customers.
The second FEED will focus on the gas storage facilities needed to receive hydrogen from the proposed HyNet system, a network of new and existing hydrogen infrastructure in the northwest of England and north Wales. The design will cover the transportation, compression, and storage of hydrogen within the caverns, as well as its transportation back into the HyNet system.
Costain鈥檚 work is expected to complete in 2026 and will inform Storengy UK鈥檚 plans for entering the final investment decision for the project.
Costain has designed and built gas storage facilities before, and has had a presence on the Holford brinefields for almost 20 years. It previously constructed Storengy 鈥榮 neighbouring Stublach solution mining plant, comprising 20 gas storage caverns used for brine production and transportation.
Sam White, managing director, natural resources at Costain, said: 鈥淭his is an exciting project that will enable a transformative hydrogen storage facility to improve the UK鈥檚 energy resilience and economic prosperity in the northwest of England.
鈥淲e have decades of experience in delivering salt cavern gas storage facilities and we鈥檒l apply this knowledge to the rapidly growing hydrogen economy, designing safe and secure storage systems that will be critical to creating a sustainable future.
鈥淥ur longstanding knowledge of the site, and established relationships with the local supply chain, mean we鈥檙e well placed to deliver designs that have constructability at their heart, paving the way for the scheme to progress smoothly.鈥�
Paul Snary, hydrogen director at Storengy UK said: 鈥淭he Keuper Gas Storage Project is a key initiative which, as part of the wider HyNet system, will help decarbonise both industry and energy generation in the Northwest of England and beyond.
鈥淭his is a long-term project involving many local and regional stakeholders, and we鈥檙e looking forward to drawing on Costain鈥檚 expertise and long track record in this space to ensure the engineering and constructability designs meet the requirements, before progressing towards EPCm contracts.鈥�
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