Haidach gas storage is an underground

natural gas storage Natural gas is a commodity that can be stored for an indefinite period of time in natural gas storage facilities for later consumption. Usage Gas storage is principally used to meet load variations. Gas is injected into storage during periods o ...

in the town of Haidach near

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, Austria. As of the end of 2018 with a capacity of ~2.9 billion cubic meters (bcm) it is the third largest (after Rehden with volume of ~4.7bcm and Bergermeer of ~4.5bcm of capacity) gas storage facility in Central Europe.

History

In 1997,

Rohöl-Aufsuchungs Aktiengesellschaft RAG Austria AG (RAG) is the largest gas storage operator and thus energy storage company in Austria. The company focuses its business activities on the storage of natural gas and other gaseous energy and the development of green-gas technologies ...

(RAG) discovered the Haidach gas reservoir holding a total gas in place of 4.3 billion cubic meters (bcm). After depletion of the reservoir, it was planned to convert into a gas storage. The contract for use of the Haidach reservoir as a storage for natural gas was signed between RAG,

Wingas SEFE Energy is a gas distribution company located in Kassel, Germany. It is a subsidiary of Securing Energy for Europe. History Wingas was established in 1993 by BASF subsidiary Wintershall and Gazprom. Since 25 October 2007, Wintershall owned ...

and Gazprom Export on 13 May 2005. Construction works started in 2005. The gas storage started officially operating on 24 May 2007.

Technical features

Haidach underground gas storage uses depleted Haidach porous sandstone

gas reservoir A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presenc ...

at a depth of . The operating capacity of the gas storage in the first phase is 1.2 bcm. In April 2011, after completing the second phase, the operating capacity would be doubled. The gas storage is connected to the Austrian and German gas grids at Burghausen/ Überackern through the long Austria-Bavaria gas pipeline (ABG). The construction of the first stage cost €250 millions.

Ownership

Haidach gas storage is a joint project of RAG, Wingas, SEFE Storage (Astora) and Gazprom Export (GSA LLC). During April 2021, Gazprom-associated gas storage facilities became unusually low and remained low instead of refilling in the off-peak summer season as usual. In July 2022 the Austrian government gave away Gazprom's portion of the Haidach gas storage facility to RAG Austria for failure to fill it up for the winter season. It is operated by the Austrian energy company EVN.

References

{{coord, 47, 59, 8.5, N, 13, 13, 50, E, display=title Natural gas storage Natural gas in Austria Energy infrastructure in Austria Gazprom