The history and development of underground gas storage (UGS) is inseparable from natural gas industry development. Because it is a network industry, the natural gas sector has required, since its beginning, technologies to deal with the temporal and spatial mismatch of supply and demand.
In this sense, UGS would be a way of providing security of supply, also allowing the balance of the pipeline network both allowing for store of surplus of gas or injecting more gas into the network in case of possible supply difficulties by producers.
Despite the potential importance of UGS for the gas industry in Brazil, this activity is still very incipient in the country, lacking discussions about its regulation and possible incentives for research and implementation of the activity. Therefore, this Technical Note aims to analyze the international experience about the UGS activity, its technical characteristics, costs and regulatory aspects, as well as to evaluate, through case studies prepared by EPE, the technical and economic feasibility of this activity in the Brazil.
Underground Gas Storage – General and Regulatory Aspects, Cost Estimates and Simulation
