Centrica has filed a formal application to reopen Britain’s biggest natural gas storage site after the site was closed five years ago for “economic” reasons.
The Windsor-headquartered utility company has submitted a formal application to the North Sea energy regulator to reopen the Rough facility off the east coast of Yorkshire.
Centrica previously closed its gas storage facility in 2017, after the government refused to subsidise the cost of repairs to the North Sea facility.
The application comes as the government pushes forwards with plans to increase the UK’s gas storage capacity as a means of limiting the impacts of the energy crisis ahead of the coming winter.
The plans come as global natural gas prices have soared in recent months as demand has outstripped supply, due to rebounding global demand following Covid and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Rough facility consists of a depleted natural gas field, which lies 2.7km below the seabed, 18 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.
