Lake Tuz Natural Gas Storage ( tr, Tuz Gölü Doğalgaz Deposu) is an underground

natural gas storage Natural gas is a commodity that can be stored for an indefinite period of time in natural gas storage facilities for later consumption. Usage Gas storage is principally used to meet load variations. Gas is injected into storage during periods o ...

facility under construction in

Aksaray Province Aksaray Province ( tr, ) is a province in central Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Konya along the west and south, Niğde to the southeast, Nevşehir to the east, and Kırşehir to the north. It covers an area of . The provincial capital is t ...

, central Turkey. It was developed artificially in a salt formation. The storage facility is situated near Sultanhanı town in Aksaray Province south of

Lake Tuz Lake Tuz ( tr, Tuz Gölü meaning 'Salt Lake'; anciently Tatta — grc, ἡ Τάττα, la, Tatta Lacus) was the second largest lake in Turkey with its surface area and one of the largest hypersaline lakes in the world. It is located in the C ...

at a depth of . It was established by creating salt caverns. The twelve man-made salt caverns each with a volume of can hold natural gas. Daily delivery from the storage can be up to when needed. The geological structure of the area is suitable for large underground natural gas storage facilities. The salt formation covers an area of . It is long and around thick. It has a

salt dome A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when salt (or other evaporite minerals) intrudes into overlying rocks in a process known as diapirism. Salt domes can have unique surface and subsurface structures, and they can be discovered usin ...

structure. To create the caverns in the salt formation, fresh water was brought by pipeline from

Hirfanlı Dam Hirfanlı Dam is a dam in Turkey. The development was backed by the State Hydraulic Works (Turkey), Turkish State Hydraulic Works. It was built by George Wimpey, Wimpey Construction and was completed in 1959.White, p. 31 See also *List of dam ...

at distance. Using the process of solution mining, water was injected through a borehole into the salt formation, and the saline water, which is formed after

dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

of salt in water, was pumped back to the surface leaving a void in the formation. The salt water was transported to far away Lake Tuz by pipeline. Gas pressure inside the storage is nearly . The contract for the project was signed between the Turkish

BOTAŞ BOTAŞ Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) is the state-owned crude oil and natural gas pipelines and trading company in Turkey. The company was established in 1974 as a subsidiary of TPAO. Since 1995, BOTAS is a wholly state-owned company. ...

and the Chinese Tianchen Engineering Company (TCC) in 2012, and the construction started in 2013. For the financing,

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

provided a loan in amount US$325 million in 2006. Another loan in amount of US$400 million was secured in 2014. The first phase of the storage construction completed in February 2017. It is expected that storage will be fully in service in 2021. When completed, the facility will be capable of storing 10% of the natural gas consumed. Planned goal for total capacity is set to 20% of the consumed natural gas. The cost of the development was US$700 million. The storage ensures supply safety in accordance with hourly, daily and seasonal needs. It eliminates supply-demand disparity. Stored natural gas will be withdrawn in times of extreme cold weather or when the water level in the dams are reduced in drought. It also helps price stability. Currently the storage is extended as a next project step.

References

{{coord missing, Turkey Natural gas storage Energy infrastructure in Turkey Natural gas in Turkey Buildings and structures under construction in Turkey Buildings and structures in Aksaray Province Botaş