The state-owned energy provider Energinet.dk has revealed it has acquired DONG Energy's underground gas storage facility in Stenlille in Zealand for 2.25 billion kroner.
Rasmus Helveg Petersen, the climate and energy minister, argued that the gas storage facilities play an essential role in Denmark's future.
“Denmark is currently converting its energy system to 100 percent sustainable energy,” Petersen said in a press release.
“During this transition, we must ensure that the Danes can still count on receiving energy. The gas storage facilities will help secure stable energy for the times when, for instance, the wind turbines are still.”
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Securing and storing the future
Despite the Danes consuming less and less natural gas in recent years, gas remains a cornerstone of the national energy industry.
Energinet.dk already owns and operates the large gas storage facility in Lille Torup near Viborg.
Fact Box
– The Danish gas storage facilities sell gas on the European gas market and also deliver gas to customers in Sweden and other northwest European areas
– The facilities can store about 30 percent of Denmark's total gas consumption and can supply gas to about 500,000 homes per year
– Typically, the gas is pumped underground into the facilities during the summer so that the supplies are ready for the cold winter months
– The storage facility in Stenlille is an aquifer storage facility where the gas is kept 1,500 metres under ground in porous sandstone levels covered by clay lining
