Seasonal Gas Storage Facilities in Switzerland

Natural Gas Storage in Switzerland

The topic of natural gas storage in Switzerland has become more significant since 2022, when a law requiring the Swiss gas industry to store 15% of the natural gas the country consumes annually became effective. As Switzerland does not possess seasonal gas storage facilities, much of the gas must currently be stored in other countries.

Energy transition Energy systems

Lined Rock Caverns for Seasonal Gas Storage

In a new article by Tom Kober with co-authors René Bautz, Evangelos Panos, Yi Wan, Russell McKenna, Alexander Fuchs, and Turhan Demiray, PSI-LEA researchers and collaborating partners weigh the pros and cons of Switzerland building domestic storage facilities. The authors conclude that – depending on the market conditions – building underground Lined Rock Caverns (LRC) for seasonal gas storage could contribute to securing the national gas supply, optimizing gas procurement portfolios, supporting the development of power-to-x plants, and stabilizing transport grids.

Conversion into Hydrogen Storage Facilities

Why build new natural gas infrastructure at this point in the energy transition? The authors explain that gaseous fuels, be they fossil, biogenic, or synthetic, will continue to play a role in the Swiss energy system, and the more ambitious the climate goals, the more important domestic production of biogas, biomethane, and hydrogen becomes. In the future, LRC gas storage facilities built to store natural gas could be converted to store hydrogen.

Aerial view of the Furka Pass in Switzerland
Photo: Adobe Stock

Modeling Frameworks and Research Partners

In order to evaluate gas storage in the context of long-term developments in the Swiss energy system, PSI-LEA's Swiss TIMES Energy System Model (STEM) was used, supplemented with the FlexECO modeling framework of the Research Center for Energy Networks (FEN), ETH Zürich. This research was funded by Gaznat SA and is associated with the project SWEET-SURE, which is being carried out as part of the SWEET funding programme of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy. The authors thank both organizations for their support.

Full Article

Read the full article “Saisonale Gasspeicher in der Schweiz” (in German or French) here: https://www.aquaetgas.ch/energie/gas/20240426-ag5-saisonale-gasspeicher-in-der-schweiz/.