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Costain has been appointed by Storengy UK to lead the design of the Keuper Gas Storage Project (KGSP), a pioneering underground hydrogen storage facility to be built in Northwich, Cheshire.
The facility will comprise 19 salt caverns alongside hydrogen treatment, compression, dehydration, and transfer infrastructure. Costain's multi-disciplinary engineering team will deliver two front-end engineering and design (FEED) contracts to support the development of the site, which is set to hold around 400 million cubic metres of hydrogen.
The first FEED contract will focus on solution mining: a process where water is pumped deep underground to dissolve salt deposits, creating space for the hydrogen storage caverns. The extracted brine will then be transported via existing pipelines to local customers.
The second FEED will cover the infrastructure required to connect the storage facility to the proposed HyNet system, a regional network of hydrogen production and distribution infrastructure across Northwest England and North Wales. This phase includes the design of hydrogen transportation, compression, cavern storage and reintegration into the HyNet system.
Costain's design work is expected to conclude in 2026, providing a foundation for Storengy UK’s Final Investment Decision on the project.
Sam White, Managing Director, Natural Resources at Costain, said: "This is an exciting project that will enable a transformative hydrogen storage facility to improve the UK's energy resilience and economic prosperity in the Northwest of England.
We have decades of experience in delivering salt cavern gas storage facilities and we’ll apply this knowledge to the rapidly growing hydrogen economy, designing safe and secure storage systems that will be critical to creating a sustainable future.
Our longstanding knowledge of the site, and established relationships with the local supply chain, mean we’re well placed to deliver designs that have constructability at their heart, paving the way for the scheme to progress smoothly."
