TransGas

TransGas is utilizing its employees' expertise in natural gas transmission and storage to find ways to expand its business in Saskatchewan and support the province's natural gas producers, users and marketers. One of the ways they are doing this is through the new "Energy to Store" project. Energy to Store, is a $44 million initiative that will expand TransGas' storage capacity by 23%, and will be completed by the year 2011. his project will include the development of three new storage caverns at the existing Landis facility and an expansion of existing storage at the Bayhurst and Unity storage fields and will increase TransGas' total storage capacity to 40.5 Petajoules (PJs). Natural gas storage services offered by TransGas provide an essential part of safe, reliable service in an extreme climate such as Saskatchewan. During the winter season, strategically-located storage facilities provide quick access to natural gas to supplement gas provided through the pipeline system. Approximately 40% of Saskatchewan's winter natural gas heating load comes from TransGas' storage caverns. The ability to store large amounts of natural gas is also beneficial as it takes the volatility out of the market for our customers and allows them to manage supply costs and balance demand and supply capabilities. TransGas' underground caverns take advantage of Saskatchewan's geology and are developed in underground salt formations located approximately 1,600 metres below the earth's surface. The caverns will be mined at a depth of approximately 1,100 meters into the geological structure known as the Prairie Evaporite, and are created using a technique known as solution mining. At the Bayhurst and Unity storage fields, the project does not include physically expanding the fields, but will provide additional wells, allowing TransGas to remove and inject gas at a faster rate. At Unity, the field pressure is also being increased, which will allow more gas to be stored into the same physical volume. Also, these are horizontal wells, ...