Gaz-System will verify whether a construction of a new gas storage facility in the Damasławek salt dome in the kujawsko-pomorskie voivodeship is possible. On Thursday the company started the drilling.
An exploratory well will be drilled. This will allow the company to decide whether the Damasławek salt dome can be used to build an underground gas storage facility.
When welcoming the guests, Artur Zawartko Vice-President of Gaz-System’s Management Board, explained the importance of gas storages for a transmission system: „They ensure the security and continuity of natural gas supply. The planned underground gas storage facility, the first one owned by Gaz-System, will allow us to add new services to our portfolio. Thanks to the investment we will be able to optimize the usage of our gas infrastructure. This will directly benefit Poland’s gas market participants.”
At the end of May, Gaz-System signed a contract with G-Drilling S.A. for drilling two exploratory wells in the Damasławek salt dome. „The exploration consists in drilling two boreholes ca. 1800 meters deep and conducting a number of measurements and analyses. This will allow us to determine the geological composition of the deposit, including its chemical and physical features as well as hydro-geological conditions,” Paweł Jakubowski head of Gaz-System’s Development department said during the event.
Already in mid June this year, the Polish company G-Drilling S.A. started in Świątkowo preparatory works during which it built two drill sites about 700 meters apart. At the beginning of August, a 30-meter tall derrick was erected on one of them. The other one will be build in mid August.
„They will be used to drill two wells, each about 1800 meters deep. The drilling rigs will work 24 hours a day for about 4-5 months. This will allow us to acquire a sample for laboratory research, whose results will, among others, allow us to make a decision on whether the salt dome is suitable for constructing an underwater gas storage facility,” added Aleksander Zawisza, deputy of the Director of the Development department, responsible at Gaz-System for the project.
All the works related to the drilling are supervised by a \specialized supervisory services. Gaz-System hired Ośrodek Badawczo-Rozwojowy Górnictwa Surowców Chemicznych „Chemkop” Sp. z o.o. to perform this. Additionally, the Regional Mining Authority in Gdańsk is responsible for the mining supervision of the works. Once the drilling is over, the wells will be secured, the drilling sites dismantled and the area rehabilitated.
While implementing the project, Gaz-System is putting a lot of emphasis on building relations with the local communities. The company is in touch with the local authorities. In June this year it organized an information meeting for the people who live in Świątkowo and Ustaszewo to present details on the exploratory works.
„The business decision on building an underground gas storage facility will be made next year once the research and exploration works and investment and economic analyses are completed,” Zawartko summed up.
Damasławek gas storage facility
The works are conducted in Świątkowo in the Janowiec Wielkopolski district and will last until December 2017. Gaz-System ensured that during the works, the drilling sites will be secured and monitored 24/7 by specialized services. Once the drillings are over the area will be rehabilitated, restored to its original state and the exploratory wells secured.
Next year once the research and exploration works and investment and economic analyses are completed, Gaz-System will make a business decision on the future of the magazine. „Its construction fits well with the strategic plans of the company, which wants to add to its service portfolio the storage of gas fuels,” the firm stressed.
Gas storage facilities play an important role in the gas transmission system as they impact the security and continuity of supply. The constriction of the storage facility in Damasławek will contribute to an optimal usage of Gaz-System’s gas infrastructure.
UPDATE: 10 August 2017, 1:52 pm
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