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Underground storage is the safe,
economical and environmentally friendly way to store
large volumes of hydrocarbons, energy sources, chemical
products etc. - in liquid, liquefied or gaseous form
- in porous or fractured rock strata or in man-made
cavities, hosted in geological formations, deep below
ground level.
 
For natural gas, underground storage facilities serve
to balance supply and demand between summertime and
wintertime. When the demand for gas is extremely high,
underground storage facilities provide a reserve of
gas that is immediately and economically available.
This service is known as peak shaving. If a pipeline
system fails, or the supply runs seriously short of
the requirement, underground storage provides a reserve
for managing just such emergencies. Underground storage
is also increasingly used for spot-trading.
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Typical products that can be stored are natural gas, crude oil, air, fuels, propane,
butane, as well as chemical and
petrochemical products. Huge volumes
can be stored. In the case of natural gas
storage volumes are often from several
hundred million m³ to several billion m³.
The withdrawal rate of a storage site is
normally in excess of a hundred thousand
m³ per hour and can be as much as
several million m³ per hour. Gaseous
products are stored underground at high
pressures which can range from a few
dozen bar to more than 200 bar.The
capability to store products underground
depends on the existence of suitable
geological conditions. Underground
storages can be created from:
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aquifer structures
under gas-tight layers of cap rock; |
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solution-mined
caverns in rock salt
deposits; |
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traditionally
mined hard rock
cavities; |
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disused mines. |
Undergrund-Storage
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