The Compressed Air Energy Storage project (CAES) is the first large-scale energy storage facility in the Netherlands. It is strategically located in Zuidwending, in the province of Groningen, where there is access to salt formations, suitable for the storage of air, is in close proximity to the national electricity network and has access to renewable energy available from nearby wind and solar parks. Tenaris supported during the well design and was finally awarded for the supply of casing and premium connections.
“In the last couple of decades eolic and photovoltaic (PV) energy production have seen a growing presence in the energy mix. It is expected to intensify further in line with ongoing decarbonization efforts, providing the most significant contribution in creating a carbon free energy mix,” explains Paolo Novelli, Tenaris Energy Transition OCTG Project Director. “Tenaris has a proven portfolio of solutions and technical expertise to support a pioneering project such as that of CAES.”
Gianmarco Ponti, Cameron Michaud-Simms and Paolo Novelli, who teamed up for the CAES project. Tenaris
Novelli adds that an intrinsic characteristic of both eolic and PV is the mismatch between peak demand and peak production given natural weather variations and unpredictability, where typically wind strength increases during the night, while energy demand decreases significantly, thus creating an imbalance. Among the possible solutions, says Novelli, is utilizing compressed air energy storage technology. An underground salt cavern will be constructed to store the compressed air to produce energy.
The operation of the well will entail frequent injection and extraction cycles to store excess energy during peak production for use when demand is high. Tenaris’s well design experts collaborated also to analyze and identify the best performance solution for the drilling project. Thanks to its superior high-fatigue performance, gas tight sealability and easy make-up TenarisHydril Blue® connection will be supplied as best solution for this specific application.
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