Costain, the infrastructure solutions company, has been selected by Storengy UK to design the Keuper Gas Storage Project (KGSP), an underground hydrogen storage facility in Northwich, Cheshire.
The facility will consist of 19 salt caverns together with hydrogen treatment, compression, dehydration and transfer facilities, and Costain’s multi-disciplinary engineering team will deliver two front-end engineering and design (FEED) contracts to support its development. The facility will be designed to store a working gas volume of approximately 400 million cubic metres (mcm) of hydrogen, equivalent to storing 1,300 gigawatt hours of hydrogen.
The first FEED will look at solution mining, which will involve water being pumped hundreds of metres underground to dissolve the salt. The resultant brine solution is then extracted to create a cavern, with the salt solution transported from the cavern via existing underground pipelines to local customers.
The second FEED will focus on the gas storage facilities needed to receive hydrogen from the proposed HyNet system, a network of new and existing hydrogen infrastructure in the Northwest of England and North Wales. The design will cover the transportation, compression, and storage of hydrogen within the caverns, as well as its transportation back into the HyNet system.
Costain’s work is expected to complete in 2026 and will inform Storengy UK’s plans for entering the Final Investment Decision for the project.
Costain has a successful track record designing and constructing gas storage facilities and has had a presence on the Holford brinefields for almost 20 years. It previously constructed the Stublach solution mining plant, comprising 20 gas storage caverns used for brine production and transportation.
Sam White Managing Director, Natural Resources, Costain
Sam White, continued: “Our longstanding knowledge of the site, and established relationships with the local supply chain, mean we’re well placed to deliver designs that have constructability at their heart, paving the way for the scheme to progress smoothly.”
Paul Snary, hydrogen director at Storengy UK said: “The Keuper Gas Storage Project is a key initiative which, as part of the wider HyNet system, will help decarbonise both industry and energy generation in the Northwest of England and beyond.
“This is a long-term project involving many local and regional stakeholders, and we’re looking forward to drawing on Costain’s expertise and long track record in this space to ensure the engineering and constructability designs meet the requirements, before progressing towards EPCm contracts.”
Costain has been designing and delivering hydrogen infrastructure for more than 60 years and is involved in a number of advisory and delivery projects relating to the usage, storage, distribution and production of hydrogen. This includes delivering a study for Wales and West Utilities examining the integration of hydrogen refuelling stations into the UK’s existing gas network.