Underground Gas Storage Monitoring Using Free and Open Source InSAR Data: A Case Study from Yela (Spain)

Gabriele Fibbi, Tommaso Beni, Riccardo Fanti and Matteo Del Soldato ()
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Gabriele Fibbi: Earth Sciences Department, University of Florence, Via La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy
Tommaso Beni: Earth Sciences Department, University of Florence, Via La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy
Riccardo Fanti: Earth Sciences Department, University of Florence, Via La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy
Matteo Del Soldato: Earth Sciences Department, University of Florence, Via La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-20

Abstract: Gas consumption is subject to large seasonal fluctuations between the summer season (period with lower request) and the winter season (time with increased consumer demand). Underground gas storage applications (UGS) help to ensure a steady and reliable supply of natural gas, even during periods of peak demand, smoothing price fluctuations and providing a means of balancing the supply and demand of natural gas on a daily, weekly, or seasonal basis. However, UGS activities can induce vertical ground displacement, which is usually strictly associated with the injection and withdrawal of gas into/from the reservoir. It is necessary to carefully monitor and manage the potential impact of UGS activities on the subsurface and surface to ensure the stability and safety of the local environment. The Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technique can provide a wide range of high-precision information on seasonal surface deformation associated with UGS activities useful for increasing the amount of information on ground deformation monitoring. This study introduces a unique and replicable approach to investigating freely available ground movement data for a fractured aquifer reservoir located in the Madrid Basin (Guadalajara, Spain), which is currently employed for seasonal underground gas storage applications. Notably, this study gives a comprehensive comparison of InSAR results of UGS activity in a deep aquifer, leveraging data that are entirely open-source and easily accessible. The Yela UGS project exploits a carbonate reservoir (dolomite) managed, since 2012, by Enagás, the Spanish main Transmission System Operator (TSO). InSAR data from 2015 to 2021 provided a full and coherent ground deformation pattern of the area. Based on this data, a fully integrated volumetric variation model was developed, elucidating the effects of gas storage activity. A significant correlation between the periodic injection/withdrawal rates of natural gas and InSAR ground deformation over time was identified.

Keywords: underground gas storage; InSAR; monitoring; ground deformation; EGMS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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