Looking to create a better wheel, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said it has teamed with the Pennsylvania State University to establish and operate a consortium on underground gas storage technology.

Under the agreement, the consortium created by Penn State and DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory Strategic Center for Natural Gas will last four-and-a-half years at a total cost of $3 million. The first 18 months will be creating the consortium structure, soliciting membership, establishing an executive panel of industry experts, refining a technical approach for deliverability enhancement and reservoir management research and selecting and awarding the first round of research projects.

Focused on being industry-driven, the consortium will “emphasize the creation of a balanced research portfolio of practical solutions, short-term projects, and basic research to improve the performance of the nation’s gas storage infrastructure,” the DOE said.

With natural gas demand expected to grow from 22 Tcf per year today, to almost 35 Tcf by 2025, the efficiency of gas storage will be tested in the years to come. “The expansion in both the volume and nature of gas use will place significant new burdens on the nation’s existing pipeline and storage systems,” the DOE said.

The agency noted that gas storage research focuses primarily on two main issues. First, gas storage wells/fields often suffer a decline in productivity after several years of withdrawal and injection cycling, and second, not all regions of current and potential high gas demand possess natural underground reservoirs or salt formations that can support local storage needs.

The DOE said the research undertaken by the consortium will focus on technologies to “limit and remediate the progressive damage caused by the repeated injection and withdrawal of gas in existing and future facilities, as well as innovative reservoir development and management techniques that can maximize performance.”

In addition, research will also look into solutions for storage near demand centers, including the development of man-made storage systems such as underground mined caverns, gas hydrate storage, distributed liquefied natural gas, and other non-traditional means.

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