The UK's largest gas storage facility Rough has released stored gas into the grid to help the UK both manage higher heating demand during the current cold weather and keep prices down.
This is the first time Rough has released gas this winter.
This year, Centrica has filled Rough with the equivalent of 18 LNG tankers.
Rough is the UK’s largest gas storage facility. It stopped storing gas in 2017 but was re-opened for gas storage in October 2022, and its capacity was doubled in the summer of 2023.
The facility, which is 18 miles off the coast of East Yorkshire, now provides half of the UK’s total gas storage.
Chris O’Shea, group chief executive, Centrica, said: “Customers are struggling with high energy bills which are driven by international energy prices.
“Gas storage is vital to ensure the UK can manage demand effectively, keeping prices down, and Rough contributes more than 50% of the UK’s total gas storage.
“I’m proud of the actions our team has taken over the last 18 months, including our decision to bring Rough back online, to underpin the UK’s energy security. However, we still have the lowest levels of energy storage of the world’s major economies with the ability to store fewer than 8 days of peak winter demand and this leaves us susceptible to shocks in international markets.”
The UK has diverse gas supplies with connections with Norway and other European countries and 3 LNG import terminals.
However, it still has some of the lowest levels of gas storage in Europe at 12 days average or 7.5 peak winter days, compared to Germany at 89 days, France at 103 days and the Netherlands at 123 days.
Centrica’s Rough storage facility pumps gas into grid
