Under Britain’s largest former naval base, vast salt caverns will be excavated to store hydrogen as part of plans for the country to boost its energy security.
The 19 caverns, each the size of St Paul’s Cathedral in Dorset, will be dug and filled with sufficient hydrogen to power a power station for several days.
The caverns’ hydrogen will be used only in an emergency, when the wind farms and solar panels are not producing enough electricity to keep Britain’s light on.
Claire Coutinho is the energy secretary and she has not just backed this scheme, but also changed Government’s business policy for hydrogen storage to make sure it could secure taxpayer subsidies.
UK Oil and Gas, the company behind this scheme, said that it would seek planning permission in the next few months.
Stephen Sanderson (UKOG’s Chief Executive) has stated that he will make the application through the Government’s Nationally Significant Infrastructure System, bypassing any potential local opposition.
He said that Portland Port was ideally located for the construction large salt caverns, as it is situated over a rock salt of high quality and 450 metre thickness.
Mr Sanderson said: “I’ve enjoyed meeting with three key figures in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero including Secretary of State Claire Coutinho and Lord Callanan Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance and Graham Stuart Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero.”
Portland Harbour is located in Weymouth bay on England’s South Coast. It was used by Henry VIII as a Naval Base in the 16th Century.
The base was greatly expanded in the last century, to accommodate new steam-powered ships. It eventually became one of Royal Navy’s largest bases, until it closed in 1995.
The UK Olympic sailing team trains at the harbour, which is one of the largest in the UK.
Halite, or rock salt, is the rock that will be used to store hydrogen in the harbour.
Two miles below the surface, a massive layer has been discovered. It has been buried there for at least 200 millions of years.
The rock is stable because it does not have water flowing through it.
Matt Cartwright said that UKOG’s director of commercial Matt Cartwright said that the caverns will be created by drilling into the salt, and then injecting water to dissolve rock.
UK Energy Storage will be in charge of the project. It is a UKOG subsidiary.
The caverns will be 85 metres wide and 90 metres tall, with a volume of 320,000 m3 cubed. This is about twice as large as St Paul’s Cathedral.
UKOG is faced with a series of controversies regarding its involvement in onshore oil-and-gas developments throughout the UK.
It has five oil and natural gas fields in the Weald and Purbeck area of southern England. However, its efforts to exploit these fields have been repeatedly challenged by courts.
UKOG has won the rights to drill at the Loxley Gas Field near Horsham, Surrey. Production is expected to begin next year.
UKOG’s spokesman said that the company is moving away from oil, gas and sees a bigger future for renewable energy.
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