Netherlands approves Taqa gas storage

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) said yesterday it had received approval from the Dutch Council of State for the development of the Bergermeer Gas Storage facility in the Netherlands, paving the way for Taqa and its partner EBN to invest more than ¤800 million (Dh2.93 billion) in the drilling of 14 new wells, gas treatment installation in Alkmaar and associated pipelines. "Taqa will shortly commence preparatory work. Work on the well site will start after the meadow birds breeding season [in July]," the company said. Taqa's stock on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange closed 0.83 per cent lower yesterday at Dh1.20. "We will start commercial operations in April 2014 at Bergermeer. The full capacity at the storage is expected to be reached by April 2015. For Taqa, this is one of our largest projects globally and would establish it as one of the most important natural gas companies operating in north-western Europe," Allan Virtanen, a spokesman for Taqa, told Gulf News. "We will start civil works at the Bergermeer project within the next two weeks and the drilling would begin in December this year." He also said Bergermeer will be Taqa's second gas storage facility in the Netherlands. With a working volume of 4.1 billion cubic metres, the Bergermeer complex will be the largest accessible gas storage facility in Europe. Bergermeer Gas Storage will double the capacity in the Netherlands for seasonal storage and make an important contribution to the country's ambition to become the north-west European gas hub.