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The Bergermeer consortium has developed a framework contract, the Standard Storage Services Agreement (SSSA) which will be the basis for both the long term contracts and the annual auctions. The execution version (November 2011) is available for download below.
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Bergermeer SSSA
execution version
November 2011
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Allan Virtanen
Manager Group Corporate Communications
Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA)
Tel: +31 88 8272500
Mob: +31 6 4614 7448
allan.virtanen@taqaglobal.com
Bergermeer Gas Storage Project
The Bergermeer Gas Storage project will create Europe’s largest open access gas storage facility.
Bergermeer Gas Storage will provide the Northwest European gas market with 4.1 billion cubic metres (BCM) of seasonal storage, thereby almost doubling the Netherlands’ total storage capacity.
Situated near the Dutch city of Alkmaar, and located 2,500 metres underground, the Bergermeer gas reservoir once held 17 BCM of natural gas. In the last 40 years we have extracted the gas from the reservoir to provide energy, power and heat for the Netherlands.
The Bergermeer reservoir has the ideal geological characteristics for gas storage and is in a strategically excellent location: well connected to the gas transport network, close to major cities and industrial centres and only 20 km from the BBL pipeline transporting gas between the Netherlands and the UK. We are re-using the depleted reservoir as gas storage by applying modern and innovative technology. The design and construction requires an investment of EUR 800 million and involves drilling new wells, building a gas treatment plant and laying almost 40 km of pipeline.
In May 2011, TAQA received the final statutory approvals and permits to construct and operate the facility. The Bergermeer Gas Storage facility will begin operations in April 2014 with partial capacity. Full commercial operations are scheduled to start in April 2015.
There are five distinct elements to the project: |
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Bergermeer reservoir
Some of the infrastructure needed to transform the depleted Bergermeer reservoir into a natural gas storage facility is already in place. The site has nine wells which were originally drilled to extract natural gas from Bergermeer. Six of the wells will be reused while a further 14 high capacity storage wells will be drilled to a depth of approximately 2,500 metres. |
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Treatment facility
When the natural gas stored in the Bergermeer reservoir is brought to the surface, it requires drying and compression before being transferred into the Gas Transport Services (GTS) network. As part of the project, a state-of-the-art zero emission gas treatment and compression facility is being built in Alkmaar on the Boekelermeer-Zuid 2 industrial site. |
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Pipeline network
Almost 40 km of high pressure pipeline will be laid to transport natural gas between the Bergermeer well site, the gas treatment and compression facility on the Boekelermeer-Zuid 2 industrial site, and the existing GTS pipelines. |
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Transport capacity
To provide all market participants unrestricted and easy access to storage, Bergermeer Gas Storage products will be offered at the Title Transfer Facility (TTF), the virtual trading point for natural gas in the Netherlands. TAQA has already booked the necessary entry and exit capacity for the first 10 years. The transport capacity will be integrated into the Bergermeer Gas Storage products. |
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Cushion gas
Cushion gas is required to achieve an economical operating pressure and is a critical component in the development of large seasonal storage. The cushion gas swap agreement was made with Gazprom group in 2009 as a result of an open season procedure. In return for delivering cushion gas to pressurise the reservoir and make commercial operations possible, Gazprom group will receive access to Bergermeer working volume. |
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