BRITAIN has been urged to “significantly increase” gas storage capacity – or risk the whole country’s energy security.
It emerged last night emergency supplies would last for just a fortnight, a fraction of the provision other major European countries have made.
Gas storage can help avoid dramatic price rises and supply interruptions, as well as acting as a “back-up” to intermittent electricity generated by wind turbines.
The UK consumes about 100billion cubic metres of gas every year, but its storage capacity is about 4% of that figure, which is much less than comparable states. The UK’s capacity is equivalent to about 14 days’ supply – compared with 69 in Germany, 59 in Italy, 87 in France, and 66 in the US.
A report by the energy and climate change committee at Westminster has recommended doubling the capacity by 2020.
The MPs said: “The Department of Energy and Climate Change should be concerned about the lack of gas storage used to manage seasonal fluctuations.
“The UK needs to significantly increase its gas storage capacity.
“The government must develop a strategy for achieving this.
“Doing nothing – or continuing to give inconsistent signals to the market about which approach it will choose – could result in no storage being built. This would diminish energy security.”
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