| Asquith Storage Project Solution Mining Water Aquifer Water Monitoring Prairie Evaporite Brine Disposal Project Documents | Asquith Storage Project TransGas is developing four underground salt caverns near Asquith to store natural gas for use during peak winter months. TransGas typically injects gas for customers during the off-peak season in summer to fill its storage facilities located throughout the province. Gas is withdrawn from storage by TransGas over the winter, particularly during extended cold snaps when the pipeline system is nearing capacity.
The Asquith project reflects the additional storage needs of major industrial customers including SaskPower’s expansion of the Queen Elizabeth Power Station and the cogeneration facility at the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan’s mine near Cory. The growing number of industrial and residential customers in the Saskatoon area is now responsible for more than 30 percent of the Saskatchewan peak winter natural gas load. This represents a 50 percent increase in the Saskatoon area load over the last five years. The natural gas storage caverns are created using a technique known as solution mining. The four caverns will be mined at a depth of approximately 1100 meters in the geological structure known as the Prairie Evaporite. Together, the four caverns are projected to give TransGas an additional 3.7 billion cubic feet (BCF) of natural gas storage. In addition to the storage caverns, natural gas injection and production facilities have been developed at the same site, located south of the town of Asquith on SW15-36-9-W3. The injection and production equipment includes a 1775 horsepower natural gas compressor and two production trains that are capable of delivering 100 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of natural gas.
Each cavern takes approximately 12 - 14 months to create. The key project milestones achieved to date are the completion of the injection and production facilities in the summer of 2005, putting the first two caverns into service for the winter of 2005/2006. The third cavern was put into service for the winter of 2006/2007. The fourth cavern is scheduled to be put in-service for the 2007/2008 winter season. For more information regarding the Asquith Storage Project, please call 1-877-ASQUITH (1-877-277-8484) |
