Huge salt caverns designed to store hydrogen are to be dug under Britain’s largest former naval base, Portland Harbour in Dorset, as part of a strategic plan to boost the country’s energy security.
The project involves creating 19 caverns, each the size of St Paul’s Cathedral, that will store enough hydrogen to power a power plant for several days. This hydrogen reserve will be essential for emergency use, providing energy when renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are insufficient.
Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho has backed the plan and has amended the government’s hydrogen storage policy to ensure taxpayer subsidies for the project. UK oil and gas company UKOG, the company leading the initiative, is seeking planning permission within months.
UKOG chief executive Stephen Sanderson plans to apply under the government’s National Critical Infrastructure Scheme, which would allow the project to bypass potential local opposition. “The Port of Portland is ideally located for large salt caverns as it sits above 450 metres of high-quality salt rock,” Sanderson said.
Sanderson held meetings with key figures from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, including Foreign Secretary Claire Coutinho, Lord Cullinan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, and Graham Stewart, Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Portland Harbour, located in Weymouth Bay on the south coast of England, has a rich history as a naval base dating back to the 16th century during the reign of King Henry VIII. It became one of the largest bases of the Royal Navy until its closure in 1995, and now serves as an important port and training centre for the UK Olympic sailing teams.
The port’s new role in storing hydrogen relies on a vast layer of halite, or rock salt, two miles below the Earth’s surface, which has been buried for at least 200 million years. The stability and solubility of this rock make it ideal for creating storage caverns.
The caves will be formed by drilling wells into the salt and injecting fresh water to dissolve the rock, explained Matt Cartwright, UKOG’s commercial director. UK Energy Storage, a wholly owned subsidiary of UKOG, will manage the project.
Each cave will be 85 metres in diameter and 90 metres high, with a storage capacity of 320,000 cubic metres, twice the volume of St Paul’s Cathedral.
UKOG is moving from its controversial involvement in onshore oil and gas development in southern England to a future focused on renewable energy. Despite ongoing legal battles over oil and gas fields in the Weald and Purbeck, the company has won the right to drill at the Loxley gas field near Horsham, Surrey, and production is expected to start next year.
A UKOG spokesperson confirmed the company’s strategic shift, saying: “We are moving away from oil and gas and see a much bigger future in renewable energy.”
This ambitious hydrogen storage project represents an important step towards ensuring the UK’s energy resilience, particularly as the country transitions to more sustainable energy sources.
