Ways of increasing natural gas storage capacity in underground gas storages in the Czech Republic

Natural gas fields are usually located far away from the end users and industrially developed countries, where the gas demand is highest. In such cases, natural gas is transported from the production site to the receiver mainly with gas pipelines. Such pipelines may transmit a definite volume of natural gas. Most of the time gas transport is stable in time, unless the demand changes, e.g. in winter or in the case of pipeline failure. In such a case the pipeline system cannot cover the increased demand and supply sufficient amounts of gas. One of the ways to solve the problem of varying demand and limited potential as far as gas transmission over long distances is concerned, are underground gas storages, thanks to which the operational gas deliveries can be regulated, i.e. it can be stored in periods of lower demand and used in the high demand situations. This safety buffer provides the stability and reliability of the entire natural gas distribution system. The methods of increasing the natural gas storage capacity of UGS were discussed in this paper with special emphasis on the primary and secondary tightness of geological structures hosting UGS. Authors also analyzed how laboratory tests conducted at VŠB-TU Ostrava can be broadened to verify the possibilities of increasing natural gas storing capacity, depending of the geological horizons and structures in which the UGS is located.