Yela
Underground natural gas
storage facility
The Yela project being developed by Enagás in the province of Guadalajara
will be the third underground natural gas storage facility in Spain. A key piece
of infrastructure in the Spanish Gas System due to its strategic location in the
centre of the Iberian peninsula.
More than 90 years of underground storage facilities
The natural gas chain
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are in deep saline aquifers, including one under Berlin’s city centre. The first dates
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Natural gas’s long journey from the gas fields to the end consumer
Extraction
The gas is extracted from the
gas fields using drilling wells and
extraction pipes
NG transport
The natural gas (NG) is transported
through gas pipelines
Liquefaction
The NG is liquefied (LNG) to
reduce its volume and make it
easier to transport
Yela
Guadalajara
LNG transportation
The liquid natural gas
is transported in
methane tankers to
regasification plants
Regasification
The liquid gas is
returned to its original
gaseous state in
regasification plants
Gaviota
Guadalajara
Yela
Serrablo
NG transport
Natural gas is transported
through the high-pressure
network
Distribution to
end consumers
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main storage facilities in Europe
storage facilities in operation
storage facilities under development
The Yela storage facility is located in the municipal area of Brihuega
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the surface of the Earth, made of Upper Cretaceous fractured dolomites.
The porosity and permeability of the aquifer, contained within seal rock,
allow gas to be stored inside.
A system that copies nature
Underground storage
Gas has been stored naturally for
millions of years. The process will
be replicated at Yela where a natural
formation will be used as an underground
storage facility.
The facility has been designed and
developed to the highest standards of safety
and environmental protection and will play
a key role in the Gas System: evening out
the differences in consumption between
summer and winter and retaining a cushion
of strategic reserves. In short, it will help to
guarantee the supply of natural gas.
Increasing
storage capacity
is a key factor to
guaranteeing
supply
Spain imports practically all the gas it
consumes, and its storage capacity
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neighbouring European states. New storage
facilities are required for the future.
Enagás is constantly investigating
all possibilities for underground natural gas
storage in Spain.
Enagás, leader in natural gas storage
The Yela storage facility is a
project developed by Enagás,
leader in natural gas transportation,
storage and regasification with
more than forty years experience
in constructing gas infrastructure
in Spain.
Enagás also owns two other
underground storage facilities:
Serrablo, located in Huesca and
in operation since 1991, and
Gaviota, located off the coast
of Vizcaya, that started operating
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The company also has almost
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pipelines throughout the country,
three regasification plants in
Barcelona, Cartagena and Huelva and
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Gas (BBG) plant in Bilbao.
Yela underground storage facility
Workings of a storage facility
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in a saline aquifer or exhausted gas or oil fields. The
injected gas displaces the water and fills the pores
in the storage rock, which is sealed by a later of
impermeable rock above.
Well heads
Compressor room
Water tank for fire-fighting
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Office building
Gas-drying units
Process water tank
Plant on surface
Plant on surface
Limestone
The surface installations
of the storage facility
are on a raised plain
Seal rock
Safety
valve at
N
Control well
Marls
Operating well
Injection/
extraction of gas
Limestone
Natural gas
Water
Control well
Storage
Porous storage rock (dolomite)
Injection/
Extraction
well
Water
Clays
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Storage facility in a natural saline aquifer made of porous rock
Storage
Process
· Injection
Clays
In summer, compressed gas is injected through
the wells. This saline aquifer is a natural deposit.
· Production
In winter, the gas is extracted. Water refills
the pores in the aquifer. The gas is treated and
injected into the grid.
Water
Anhydrite
Seal rock
Dolomite
Initial situation
Permeable and porous formation
saturated with salt water located
under the impermeable rock
Gas injection
Anhydrite
Dolomite
Storage
Gas extraction
Key project dates
1991
1998-2004
2007
2008
2009
2012
Seismic survey carried
out in central Spain
Study of the Santa
Bárbara structure using
seismic and other
exploratory surveys
Enagás obtains the
operating concession and
recognition for public
use for the Yela storage
facility
Environmental
Impact Statement
obtained
Government
Authorisation
obtained and
work starts
Storage facility
starts operating
Main features of the Yela storage facility
· The facility will guarantee
supply for the entire Spanish
gas system, particularly in the
central region and the province
of Guadalajara. Therefore, it will
be key during peak periods of
gas demand.
· It will make Brihuega a benchmark
among energy centres.
Storage facility technical data
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· It will boost the economy
of the area by directly and
indirectly creating employment
and wealth.
· It will help build a sustainable
model, as its composition
and efficiency makes natural
gas the least contaminating
fossil fuel.
Printed on recycled paper and chlorine-free
Enagás, S.A.
1BTFPEFMPT0MNPTt.BESJEt902 443 700
www.enagas.es