Europe’s energy supply sector is on the threshold of an exciting future due to changes in market conditions, and in the policy and regulatory environments. Natural gas and gas infrastructure will play a key role in this new era.
Gas storage facilities will have a particularly important part to play, owing to the demand for flexibility as a result of diverse and volatile energy sources and the growth of energy trading. Meanwhile, energy market liberalisation calls for the unbundling of integrated companies’ system operation, production, and wholesale and retail functions. To respond to these needs, RAG has formed RAG Energy Storage GmbH – a modern, customer friendly entity.
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New customized solutions and services
The aim of RAG Energy Storage is to meet the challenges of a new energy world by offering innovative bespoke services, designed to make a reality of “value added gas”, as well as RAG’s established storage products. These solutions will be tailored not just to fit conventional supplies but also to support short-term intraday- and complex trading-transactions. In addition, the company will be looking to help clients meet new market demands – especially as regards shipments to and from storage – by providing top-quality assistance with routine storage management.
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Sustainable use of infrastructure
This business will also focus on the sustainable use of natural gas infrastructure. New technologies such as “power to gas” enable converting surplus wind and solar energy into hydrogen or methane, thereby producing renewable green gas. This means that in future our storage facilities will hold not just natural gas but also hydrogen. The company’s name “RAG Energy Storage” has been chosen with an eye to this wider role of underground gas storage facilities as a means of storing energy from a variety of sources.
Working in close consultation with other market participants, RAG Energy Storage plans to exploit Austria’s strategic geographical location and favourable geology to expand its gas storage capacity. This is the only way to achieve sufficient liquidity, flexibility and security of supply for Austria to hold on to its position as a key energy trading location.