BEB's storage facilities
BEB`s underground storages and their interconnection to the adjacent pipeline system
BEB operates three underground natural gas storage facilities in the market area GASPOOL
Dötlingen natural gas storage facility Uelsen natural gas storage facility Harsefeld natural gas storage facility
The Dötlingen natural gas storage facility
In the heart of Lower Saxony near Dötlingen, south of Oldenburg, lies one of the biggest and most efficient pore storage facilities in Europe. However, there is no sign of this in the surroundings, because BEB uses the latest and most sophisticated technology to ensure that the operation of the storage facility is environmentally friendly and almost silent. 2,650 metres below the plant site lies the porous sandstone of a former gas field in the geological formation called the New Red Sandstone, in which today over 2 billion cubic metres of natural gas can be temporarily stored. The storage facility is accessed through 15 boreholes. These allow an astonishing injection and withdrawal rate of over 800,000 cubic metres per hour.
The Uelsen natural gas storage facility
Due to its favourable location near the Dutch border in the district of Bentheim (Emsland), after many years of production the Uelsen gas field was ideal for development into a natural gas storage facility. Today, six boreholes are used to access the porous sandstones of the New Red Sandstone geological formation, which lie here at a depth of 1,500 metres. 750 million cubic metres of natural gas can be stored here during the summer months in order to guarantee a reliable supply of gas during the winter.
The Harsefeld natural gas storage facility
The two storage caverns of BEB's Harsefeld storage facility lie to the west of Hamburg. The two caverns, at depths of 1,100 metres and 1,700 metres, were leached out of the solid salt of the Harsefeld salt dome via two special boreholes, creating impressive cavities of over 300 metres in height and up to 50 metres in diameter.
Up to 129 million cubic metres of natural gas can be stored in the caverns. This is not a significant amount in comparison with BEB's pore storage facilities, but the cavern storage also has a different function from the two pore storages. Because of its high input and output rate, the Harsefeld facility is used to coping with peak demands. When, on the coldest days in winter, everybody turns their heating up and the factories start up, the consumption of natural gas quickly rises to maximum levels. BEB's Harsefeld storage facility ensures that even high consumption peaks can be covered at any time.
