Gas storage

Our energy supply is also based on the constant availability of natural gas. As the lowest-emission fossil fuel, it is used in many ways: primarily for heating but also as a fossil fuel to generate electricity in gas-fired power plants, or as an environmentally friendly fuel on our roads. The gas supply in Germany is secured by a variety of supply sources, long-term gas supply contracts, and secure transport routes as well as gas reserves stored in natural gas storage facilities. They serve to cover consumption peaks and compensate for seasonal fluctuations in consumption. In 2012, at the Etzel site, we commissioned a natural gas storage facility with two caverns.

Gas storage in the Etzel salt dome

20 km south-east of Wilhelmshaven lies the Etzel salt dome, which is used for the storage of natural gas and crude oil. Among other things, strategic crude oil reserves of the Federal Republic of Germany are also stored here. EnBW has had the storage capacity of two gas caverns since 2012. The storage services are marketed by our subsidiary EnBW Etzel Speicher GmbH.

Distribution and marketing of gas storage facilities

Cavern facility in Etzel

For the operation of the gas storage facility and the marketing of storage services, EnBW Etzel Speicher GmbH has a long-term contractual cooperation with Friedeburger Speicherbetriebsgesellschaft mbH “Crystal”, which owns and operates the technical facilities required for storage operation.

EnBW Etzel Speicher GmbH also holds shares in Bunde-Etzel Pipelinegesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, which owns and operates the interconnection pipeline connecting the storage facility to the Dutch grid.