RAG storage facilities

Gas storage capacity marketed by RAG Energy Storage

The underground gas storage facilities whose capacity is marketed by RAG Energy Storage are in the Austrian provinces of Salzburg and Upper Austria, and are connected to the distribuation area via the network of Netz Oberösterreich GmbH. These are pore storage facilities. The technical operator is RAG Austria AG (RAG).

Puchkirchen/Haag gas storage facility

RAG made its first gas discovery in Puchkirchen in 1956. Conversion of the gas formation into a storage reservoir began in 1982 and was completed in 2009 after a number of expansions. During the summer of the latter year the Puchkirchen facility was linked with the Haag reservoir. At present the facility has a maximum working gas volume of some 1.1 bn cu m (equivalent to 12.5 TWh), and injection and withdrawal capacity of 520,000 cu m/hour (6 gigawatts, GW).

Aigelsbrunn gas storage facility

Gas production at this field started in 2001. Development of the gas storage facility began in 2008, and it was commissioned on 1 April 2011. Aigelsbrunn has a maximum working gas volume of approx. 130m cu m, and injection and withdrawal capacity of 50,000 cu m/hour (577 MW).

Haidach 5 gas storage facility

The repurposing of this depleted gas formation as a storage reservoir began in 2005. Haidach 5 has a maximum working gas volume of around 16m cu m (equivalent to 185 GWh), and injection and withdrawal capacity of approx. 20,000 cu m/ hour (231 megawatts, MW).

Haidach gas storage facility

The Haidach gas storage facility was planned and constructed by RAG under its concession. Since then, RAG has been technical storage operator. the German SEFE (Securing Energy for Europe) now holds a share of around 56% of the Haidach storage facility. The first development phase was completed in 2007, and the second in 2011. The total storage capacity of 2.9 bn cu m of natural gas (33,5 TWh) is equivalent to a quarter of annual gas consumption in Austria. Haidach is the second-largest storage facility in Central Europe. It has an injection capacity of 1,050,000 cu m/hour (12.1 GW) and withdrawal capacity of 1,160,000 cu m/hour (13.4 GW). The capacities of the Haidach storage are operated by SEFE Storage and by RAG Energy Storage.

7Fields (RAG) gas storage facility

7Fields was planned and built by RAG under its concession. Since then, RAG has been technical storage operator. The German Uniper Energy Storage has a holds a share of 50% of 7Fields. The first expansion phase began in 2009 and was completed in 2011. Following completion of the second expansion stage in 2014 and a capacity adjustment in 2019, around 2.1 bn cu m (24,2 TWh) of natural gas can now be stored at 7Fields. It has an injection capacity of 689,300 cu m/hour (11.9 GW) and a withdrawal capacity of 1,033,900 cu m/hour (11.9 GW). 7Fields is made up of former gas fields in Upper Austria and Salzburg. Integration of several storage reservoirs into an interconnected storage facility is particularly resource efficient. The site is unique in Europe, with five storage stations connected via pipelines to three metering stations and to the Austrian and international gas grids. Uniper and RAG Energy Storage market the capacity of this interconnected storage network.

For these capacities an access into the German market area exists via the Storage Interconnection Point Haiming with a connection to the networks of Open Grid Europe GmbH and bayernets GmbH (each bookable via PRISMA). The access into the Austrian Distribution Area is established via the network of Netz Oberösterreich GmbH. This is an essential contribution to security of supply and to market Integration.