What’s the current storage? The storage allows for gas to be bought when the wholesale price is low and released when it gets too high. It might not sound much but it can make a huge difference to the price. We used to do something similar utilising the batteries in a datacentre.
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Cheers, I was just asking because I had read some comparison between UK’s gas storage capacities and Germany as well as the EU average a while ago, can’t quite remember the exact numbers, but it seemed ridiculously low in comparison.
Of course the panic buying of countries like Germany to fill up those storages have been a factor in the ridiculous prices.
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Terrible 
Prices are still rising (as if they haven’t risen enough in last six months), though some of the essential spices (onion, ginger, garlic) are stable. Power-cuts are still regular, though we have some respite occasionally.
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A function of market structure, geology, and simple logistics.
Geologically, the UK happens to have relatively few of the mid-depth salt or similar caverns that are easy to convert into gas storage. Rough (the last major one, closed a few years ago) was offshore, which is where most of the better opportunities are. But offshore is expensive.
The market structure the UK has worked well for minimizing costs, until it didn’t. With the liquidity of the broader European market, and for a generation ready access to North Sea reserves, supply was very liquid. That in turn put pressure on margins for storage operators, such that you really couldn’t build a business case for it for private investment.
Logistics compounded that - Rough is actually further away from the London market than most of the Dutch storage capacity.
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Gas storage tends to be either a service (you pay me to ‘park’ your gas) or owned by entities that expect to use it or sell it. So you wouldn’t be paying for it twice, but quite possibly selling it low to see it stored and then sold back high. When I used to work for Centrica I worked in a group that did precisely that.
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(Shhh @Arminius If you can hook me up with some cheap gas…just leave a personal message…I’ll…eh…store it for you…)
Check with the Dutch, they always seem to have some
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Gas and grass, eh? Got to love thy neighbour
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The code word for being allowed to borrow some is “Ajax are ****s”
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Cheers, I thought it was still ‘Sell Adrian?’
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not duct tape. aluminum foil tape. much better product and will last longer than duct tape. you can cover the foil tape with duct tape if you think it’s flimsy but I re-did all of my HVAC when I bought the place and had the basement torn out.
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Apologies my comment was a subtle Brexit dig along the lines of we need to leave because we want to control our gas while quietly setting a Euro contract that would then fall foul of import duties from our oven ready deal (probably a gas oven)
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3 days i think.
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Interesting thread
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I wonder if LFC can/will offer a partial refund to the season ticket holders.
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I doubt they will. Weren’t prices frozen again this year?
An interesting take on the current crisis here:
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- Cooking Kangaroo steak instead of rump on the BBQ
- Only buying luxury foods - like icecream - when on special
- Wife saying yes to speaking engagements
- Not using our gas fireplaces or pool heater
- Stopped buying alcohol
- Postponing updating annoying shopping centre glass sliding doors
Ultimately all of these, save the last one, are probably good healthy changes. I think things will get more dire in Australia next year and in 2025 could for us when our mortgage rate is no longer fixed.
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