Gas transmission networks and electricity systems are undergoing parallel transitions. As decarbonisation reduces demand for natural gas, portions of existing transmission infrastructure may become underutilised or redundant. At the same time, growing shares of variable renewable generation are increasing the need for large-scale flexibility across both time and location.
Here, the authors argue that repurposing selected high-pressure gas pipelines as compressed air energy storage (CAES) assets could help address both challenges simultaneously. Existing pipelines offer substantial pressurised internal pipe volumes, and illustrative calculations indicate technical storage potentials of tens of gigawatt-hours in several European countries. Unlike conventional storage technologies, pipeline-based CAES could combine large scale energy storage with spatial energy transfer, enabling electricity to be absorbed in one region and regenerated in another.
The authors examine the engineering, operational, regulatory considerations and cross-sector governance associated with this concept. While deployment will depend on asset-specific suitability and system needs, pipeline-based CAES broadens the range of options available for future gas infrastructure and highlights the potential to reimagine declining fossil-fuel assets as components of a low carbon flexibility system.
This is a pre-print of an article, currently being submitted for journal publication.