The Kaliningradskoye underground gas storage (UGS) facility is highly important to ensuring energy security in the region. The UGS facility helps balance seasonal swings in gas consumption and maintain consumer supplies of the “blue fuel” flexible and reliable throughout the Kaliningrad Region.
storage reservoirs in operation
million cubic meters
working gas inventories
working gas inventories
4
storage reservoirs in operation
174
million cubic meters
working gas inventories
working gas inventories
Figures and facts
Number of storage reservoirs in operation: 4.
Working gas inventories: 174 million cubic meters.
Project implementation
The construction of the Kaliningradskoye UGS facility started in 2009.
In September 2013, Gazprom completed Phase 1 of the project consisting of two underground reservoirs and pertinent compressor capacities. A 26-kilometer gas pipeline branch was built to connect the UGS facility to the Minsk – Vilnius – Kaunas – Kaliningrad gas pipeline. The facility is also connected to the offshore gas receiving terminal that was brought into operation in January 2019. It is therefore possible to receive gas from the Marshal Vasilevskiy floating storage and regasification unit.
The efforts to expand the UGS facility are still underway. In December 2017, two new underground reservoirs were put onstream. It is planned to increase the number of reservoirs to 14 by 2025. As a result, the UGS facility will be brought to its design capacity, with working gas inventories of 800 million cubic meters and daily deliverability of 12 million cubic meters.
Technologies
Kaliningradskoye is Russia’s first UGS facility created in salt caverns, which gives it a number of advantages over storage facilities built in depleted gas fields or aquifers. Salt caverns are ideal leak-proof containers thanks to their gas-tight salt domes. Besides, the self-healing capacity of rock salt suppresses fractures and faults. Moreover, it is possible to rapidly switch Kaliningradskoye from injection to withdrawal and vice versa (multiple cycling capability), as well as to bring the UGS facility to its peak performance within the shortest possible time.
Social and economic significance
The expansion of the Kaliningradskoye UGS facility is part of Gazprom’s extensive efforts to ensure energy security, expand gas supplies, and develop relevant gas infrastructure across the Kaliningrad Region.
