E.ON Gas Storage UK has begun full commercial operations at the Holford Gas Storage facility in Cheshire, England.

The first three caverns, which represent the first phase of the development, are now fully available and with a current capacity of 60 million cubic metres, the facility will play a vital role in the UK's energy infrastructure.

Commenting on the start of commercial operations at Holford, Jo Vizor, Manager Director, E.ON Gas Storage UK said: "This is a major milestone not just for our teams who have worked so hard on this project but for the whole of the UK. Without question the Holford gas storage project will provide a vital resource throughout the year and will play a central role in helping to provide secure gas supplies to the UK.

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"Creating and preparing the caverns for commercial operation has involved many complex engineering and solution mining techniques and our ability to draw on the expertise in our UK and wider pan-European team has been crucial."

Construction work at Holford began in 2005. The creation of the underground gas storage caverns has taken approximately two and a half years. When all eight caverns are commercially available at the end of 2012, Holford will have capacity of up to 160 million cubic metres.

(CD)