A proposal to build a hydrogen storage facility in a salt cavern in Dorset has received backing from The Solent Cluster industrial decarbonisation group.
UK Oil & Gas Plc (LON:UKOG) is planning to enter the gas storage market through the hydrogen storage project on the Isle of Portland near Portsmouth, close to the Solent Cluster.
Panning approval was previously granted in 2008 for a methane gas storage project at the site at the former Royal Navy port in Dorset.
However, UKOG now plans to convert the salt cavern for hydrogen storage through its subsidiary UK Energy Storage (UKEn).
The company also plans to incorporate green hydrogen production at the site powered using offshore wind.
The facility will directly connect to the Solent Cluster via SGN’s H2 Connect pipeline.
Alongside a letter of support (LOS) from the Solent Cluster, the Dorset hydrogen storage project has also received backing from SGN, Sumitomo and RWE.
UKOG said the letters will support its future application for government hydrogen storage revenue support.
The Solent Cluster executive director Stuart Baker said: “The production, transport and storage of hydrogen are key infrastructure elements of The Solent Cluster, with significant national scale hydrogen facilities planned by our members, including SGN, RWE and ExxonMobil, two of whom, we understand, have also furnished LOS to UKEn.
“UKEn’s hydrogen storage project in Dorset can, therefore, be a key enabler for the decarbonisation of the Solent Cluster and southern UK, providing strategic inter-day to seasonal storage capacity, security of supply and pipeline stability for the proposed SGN H2 Connect pipeline network, also a key part of the Solent Cluster.”
UKOG and UKEn chief executive Stephen Sanderson said: “This further key LOS will help strengthen UKEn’s application for Revenue Support by providing government and identified potential strategic investors comfort that the project links directly to a major UK industrial user base.
“We look forward to continued collaboration with the Solent Cluster of which we are now a key member.”
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