Aldbrough Gas Storage

The Aldbrough Gas Storage facility, in East Yorkshire, officially opened in June 2011. The last of the nine caverns entered commercial operation in November 2012.

The facility, which is a joint venture between SSE Thermal (66%) and Equinor, has the capacity to store around 282 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas.

SSE Thermal and Equinor have consent to increase the storage capacity at the Aldbrough site (Aldbrough Phase 2) and during the last couple of years have been working to involve the local community where appropriate to refine aspects of this project, which has not been progressed to date due to market conditions.

Aldbrough Hydrogen Storage

In July 2021, SSE Thermal and Equinor announced plans to develop one of the world’s largest hydrogen storage facilities at the Aldbrough site. The facility could be storing low-carbon hydrogen as early as 2028.

With an initial expected capacity of at least 320GWh, Aldbrough Hydrogen Storage would be significantly larger than any hydrogen storage facility in operation in the world today. The Aldbrough site is ideally located to store the low-carbon hydrogen set to be produced and used in the Humber region.

You can find out more about the Aldbrough Hydrogen Storage here.

The Aldbrough facility already represents a major strategic contributor to the national storage of gas within the UK and it is important that the local community stands to benefit as part of that. As part of our planning consent back in 2006, we made a commitment to hold a regular Community Liaison Group (CLG) made up of local representatives, which members of the public are welcome to observe.

The CLG currently meets monthly to ensure that the operations and development teams of the Aldbrough Gas Storage facility and the community work together to minimise the impact of the facility on its neighbours. Fundamental to this role, the CLG needs to promote open and honest communication between all parties.

The minutes from recent CLG meetings are available below.

St. Michael’s Wood was provided by the owners of the Aldbrough Gas Storage facility. It was planted during the winter/spring of 2013, by Heritage Hedging, a local contractor based a few miles away in Burton Pidsea. 17,395 trees were planted to create an area of woodland of approximately 29 ha. A number of different species of tree were planted, including Oak, Sycamore, Hornbeam, Aspen, Willow and Pine. The woodland also contains a number of broadleaves including Rowan, Wild Cherry, Field Maple, Alder and Birch. Woodland shrubs such as Hazel, Guelder Rose, Dogwood and Hawthorn are also present. A wetland area, 0.73 acres in size has also been created.

A competition was held for local school children to come up with a name for the wood. The final name for the wood was suggested by Stanley McDermott, aged 9 of Sproatley Primary School. The Aldbrough Gas Storage Community Liaison Group chose the winning entry.

The photographs below were taken in spring 2017, and show how the woodland has matured since it was planted a few years ago.

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Rachel Fox
Stakeholder Engagement Manager
[email protected]
07467 652088

Energy storage

Aldbrough Gas Storage

Aldbrough Hydrogen Storage

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