英国市场发出增加天然气存储的强烈信号

中国石化新闻网讯 据彭博社7月18日报道，英国最大的天然气储藏地点将在两年后进入“退役”状态，因而，对新的燃料储存地的需求在不断增涨。

英国基础设施公司InfraStrata计划在北爱尔兰建设一个价值2.65亿英镑(3.3亿美元)的存储设施。该公司表示，天然气存储对空间的需求非常大，以至于大宗商品公司维多集团（Vitol Group）上个月就预订了Islandmagee工厂的全部产能。该项目的七个存储仓有足够的空间来满足英国一整个冬季的天然气需求。

InfraStrata首席执行官约翰•伍德(John Wood)表示:“市场的需求超过了我们对Islandmagee的需求。英国市场发出了增加天然气储藏能力的强烈经济信号。”

随着英国粗加工的储存设施被永久关闭，Islandmagee预计将提供英国25%以上的储备容量。更灵活的存储设施能够迅速应对可再生能源发电的不稳定需求，这将有助于减轻对天然气进口的依赖。当另一场冬季寒流“来自东方的野兽”袭来时，天然气存储设施还将提供更多的安全保障。去年，寒流袭击搅乱了能源市场。

Islandmagee是为英国和爱尔兰天然气市场提出的几个项目之一。InfraStrata和美国液化天然气项目开发商NextDecade Corp.正在研究引进液化天然气的浮式储存和再气化装置计划。

所谓的快速循环设施，比如5亿立方米的Islandmagee，可以在储存天然气和供应天然气给家庭供暖之间快速切换，或者抵消可再生能源发电带来的波动影响。

彭博社分析师Elchin Mammadov表示:“我确实看到了开发像Islandmagee这样的快速循环天然气储存设施的良好商业案例。它们的风险更低，而且会很有用，因为英国可再生能源的份额增加了对灵活的能源存储解决方案的需求，而这种解决方案的上升或下降空间很大。”

伍德表示，InfraStrata还在英国柴郡确定了三个潜在的存储地点，产能在5亿到6亿立方米之间，并计划在9月底之前对一个项目做出最终投资决定，目前有4家高质量的承购合作伙伴对此表达了兴趣，大型交易机构不再对持有像仓储这样的小资产感兴趣，更倾向于项目外包。

InfraStrata表示，无论英国脱欧谈判的结果如何，他们都将扩大该业务，但它仍然需要等待一个政治决策。

洪伟立 摘译自 彭博社

原文如下：

UK market sending out ‘strong economic signals’ for more gas storage

Two years after the U.K.’s largest natural gas storage site slipped into retirement, demand for new places to keep the fuel is ratcheting up.

InfraStrata Plc, which is planning a 265 million-pound ($330 million) storage facility in Northern Ireland, said the need for space is so strong that commodities firm Vitol Group last month booked the entire capacity of the Islandmagee site. The project’s seven salt caverns have enough room to more than fully meet U.K. gas use in winter for one day.

“There is more demand in the market than we can satisfy with Islandmagee,” said John Wood, the chief executive officer of InfraStrata. “The market in the U.K. is sending out strong economic signals for additional gas storage capacity.”

With Britain’s Rough storage site now permanently shut, Islandmagee is expected to provide more than 25% of the nation’s reserve capacity. More flexible facilities that can respond quickly to balance the ebb and flow of renewable generation will help ease the nation’s reliance on imports. It will also provide more security when another ‘Beast from the East’ winter cold blast strikes, an event that roiled energy markets last year.

Islandmagee is one of several projects proposed for the U.K. and Ireland. Plans for floating storage and regasification units to bring in liquefied natural gas are being explored by InfraStrata as well as U.S. LNG project developer NextDecade Corp.

So-called fast-cycle facilities such as the 500 million-cubic-meter Islandmagee can quickly switch between storing gas and supplying it to heat homes or offset swings in renewable power generation.

“I do see a good business case in developing fast-cycle gas storage facilities like Islandmagee,” said Elchin Mammadov, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “They’re less risky and would be useful as the share of renewables in Britain increases the need for flexible energy storage solutions with high ramp-up/down rates.”

InfraStrata has also identified three potential sites in Cheshire, England, with capacity of 500 million to 600 million cubic meters and plans to make a decision on a project by the end of September, Wood said. And interest has spread beyond Vitol.

“Four quality offtake partners” have expressed interest, he said, without providing details. “Big trading organizations are no longer interested in holding minor assets like storage” and would rather hire the capacity, he said.

InfraStrata says it will expand its business whatever the outcome of U.K. negotiations to leave the European Union. But it still needs a political decision.