Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA) has hosted guests in the Netherlands during a ceremony to mark the ground-breaking for the construction of Bergermeer Gas Storage, the largest open access natural gas storage facility in northwest Europe.

Present at the ground breaking ceremony were His Excellency Maxime Verhagen, Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation and Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands; His Excellency Abdalla Hamdan Alnaqbi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the Kingdom of the Netherlands; His Excellency Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi, Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority and Vice-Chairman of TAQA; His Excellency Ahmed Mohamed Matar Al Mehairi, Board Member of TAQA; His Excellency Abdul Aziz Al Al Hemaidi, Board Member of TAQA; Carl Sheldon, TAQA CEO; members of the Dutch national, regional and local Governments, representatives from TAQA’s project partners EBN and Gazprom.

During his speech, His Excellency Maxime Verhagen, Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation and Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands said: "We are delighted with this investment by our friends from Abu Dhabi. The Dutch gas industry plays a leading role in our top sectors policy. We are doing everything we can to create an optimum business climate. The doors are wide open to foreign investors. And we’re happy TAQA spotted that. What makes their investment so special is that it serves our international, national and local interests."

Carl Sheldon, TAQA CEO, commented: “As the world’s energy needs grow, natural gas will play an increasingly important role. Gas is the only fossil fuel expected to increase its share of demand in the years to come. Gas is key to the long-term strategy of TAQA -- and Bergermeer is the centrepiece of this strategy.”

Underground gas storage is a significant contributor to European energy security. It will offer greater gas supply flexibility in northwest Europe at a time when domestic reservoirs are becoming depleted. It complements increasing demand and enables gas to fill gaps left by intermittent renewable energy.

With a working volume of 4.1 billion cubic metres (i.e. the average annual gas consumption of 2.5 million households in the Netherlands), the Bergermeer Gas Storage facility is intended to be the largest accessible gas storage facility in Europe. Bergermeer Gas Storage will double the capacity in the Netherlands for seasonal storage and make an important contribution to the development of the Netherlands’ ambition to become the northwest European gas hub. Natural gas is the cleanest of all the fossil energy fuels and is vital to future sustainability of the energy supply in the Netherlands.

TAQA and its partner EBN will invest more than EUR 800 million in the drilling of 14 new wells, the construction of the gas treatment installation in Alkmaar and the intervening pipelines. Bergermeer Gas Storage will give the development of the energy industry in the vicinity of Alkmaar a significant boost. In total, the installation of the gas storage facility will provide 3,300 man-years of work, 2,650 in the Netherlands.

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