Safety and the Environment

Underground gas storage using depleted reservoirs is a proven technology with hundreds of facilities operating safely all over the world.

Minimising the Impact

We do everything we can to minimise the environmental impact of our gas storage facilities. For example, the installations used for gas production currently visible at the Bergermeer well site will be renovated and completed underground, which means that from 2014, the wells will no longer be visible. And as a result of using the best technology available, under normal circumstances our state-of-the-art gas treatment plant in Alkmaar will have no carbon dioxide emissions.

Wildlife

We have taken significant steps to protect local wildlife during the construction phase of Bergermeer Gas Storage. Since 2009, we have set aside an 18 hectare field next to the drilling site to create a new nesting area for birds before and during the drilling. This land is being managed to create a safe habitat that will allow birds to nest and breed.

The new pipelines between the Bergermeer well site and the gas treatment plant in Alkmaar will be laid underground. During this phase of the project, protected plants will be temporarily replanted elsewhere. Once the pipelines are in place, the excavated earth and protected plants will be returned to their original place to allow plants such as the marsh marigold meadow to flourish again.

We also plan to buy a further 30 hectares of land close to the Bergermeer well site. This will be set aside as a nature reserve to ensure that the Bergermeerpolder retains its unique environment for years to come.

Towards Sustainability

Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel available. Even so, in a bid to tackle climate change and in line with European policy, the Dutch Government wants 14% of all energy consumption in the Netherlands to come from renewable sources such as solar power and wind by 2020. Bergermeer Gas Storage has a role to play in meeting this ambitious target. That is because when these renewable sources are unable to meet our energy demand, people will still be able to rely on a ready supply of natural gas – whatever the weather.

The possibility of tremors

In the region around the Bergermeer reservoir, tremors may be experienced as a result of gas production in the past and gas storage. Three independent institutes, KNMI (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute), TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research) and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), have concluded that the risk of such a limited tremor is small. TNO and MIT also indicate that tremors could also occur in the Bergermeer area even without gas storage, as a result of gas extraction in the past decades.

All scientists have said that the risk of earth tremors as a result of Bergermeer Gas Storage operations will not increase compared to when gas was produced from the Bergermeer reservoir. Most scientists have said that the risk of earth tremors will actually decrease.

In the unlikely event of a tremor resulting from gas production or storage and any sustained damage to property, TAQA Energy B.V. is legally liable and will compensate for the damage in question.