On October 13-14, 2005, the 10th International Salt Symposium "Quo Vadis Sal" was held in Ciechocinek. The organizer of the Symposium was the Polish Salt Mining Association. The host of the conference was Inowrocławskie Kopalnie Soli Solino S.A. The symposium was held under the patronage of the Minister of Economy and Labour. Subject of the conference: The future of underground storage in salt deposits, with particular emphasis on the storage of energy media. The Symposium was attended by 92 people from Poland and abroad. Representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Labor, the Ministry of Treasury, directors and engineers from salt mines, scientists and specialists from scientific institutions, research centers and salt industrial plants were present.
On October 13-14, 2005, the 10th International Salt Symposium "Quo Vadis Sal" was held in Ciechocinek. The organizer of the Symposium was the Polish Salt Mining Association. The host of the conference was Inowrocławskie Kopalnie Soli Solino S.A. The symposium was held under the patronage of the Minister of Economy and Labour. The theme of the conference: "The future of underground storage in salt deposits", with particular emphasis on the storage of energy media. The Symposium was attended by 92 people from Poland and abroad. Representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Labor, the Ministry of Treasury, directors and engineers from salt mines, scientists and specialists from scientific institutions, research centers and salt industrial plants were present. As a result of the discussion, the following comments and conclusions regarding energy media storage were formulated.
1. Pursuant to the directives of the Council of the European Community, Poland, as an EU member state, is obliged to maintain 60-day strategic reserves of natural gas and 90-day reserves of crude oil. However, the European Commission, in its studies on building Europe's energy security system, suggests increasing the mandatory reserves to 120 days. Such quantities of fuels can only be stored in underground geological structures. Underground storage facilities are definitely more capacious and less expensive to build and operate than above-ground storage facilities; moreover, they ensure greater security of the stored media.
2. Poland, due to its geographical location (a transit country for oil and gas transmission) and favorable geological structure, can and should play a very important role in the creation of the European energy security system. Potential possibilities of locating warehouses in our country would even allow oil to be stored for the needs of other EU members.
3. One of the best geological formations for the location of storage facilities for liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons is rock salt. Poland has favorable conditions for the construction of underground warehouses in salt deposits due to the presence of many salt structures in the Polish Lowlands and thicker seam deposits in Lower Silesia and in the area of Zatoka Puck.
4. The status of exploration of these deposits is, with few exceptions, insufficient. Proper use of the potential storage of energy media in salt deposits requires urgent and full geological exploration by the Polish Geological Survey.
5. Currently, there are several gas storage facilities in our country with a capacity of approx. 1.5 billion Nm3. Most of them are storage facilities located in old depleted gas deposits. We have only one modern storage facility - CUGS Mogilno, with a working capacity of 0.5 billion Nm3 (10 caverns), located in a salt dome.
6. Current gas storage needs are determined and governed by the needs of the internal market. A constant level of consumption in recent years, continuity of supplies and a stable price did not result in the need to increase reserves of this raw material. An increase in interest in gas storage may occur after the release of trade in this raw material (third party access) in 2007.
7. Poland is not prepared for a real rapid increase in storage capacity, in particular underground storage in salt deposits.
8. Increasing gas storage capacities should be implemented by: expanding the CUGS Mogilno storage facility to the designed capacity of approximately 1 billion Nm3 (20 caverns). The implementation of this project does not require the costly creation of above-ground infrastructure, as it has already been carried out during the implementation of the first part of the project - 10 storage caverns. Increasing the storage capacity can also be achieved by constructing a gas storage facility in the Mechelinki-Kosakowo field on the Puck Bay. The deposit has geological documentation, preliminary designs (KPP) and arrangements with local authorities. This warehouse could handle both the planned LNG gas terminal and possible gas supplies from Norway. The short distance of the planned warehouse from Gdańsk may be one of the reasons for the location of the LNG terminal in this area.
9. A very important issue for Poland is the expansion of underground storage facilities for liquid hydrocarbons. Currently, we have one oil and fuel warehouse - PMRiP Góra located in the depleted salt chambers of the Góra mine near Inowrocław, with a target capacity of approx. 5 million m3. This amount to a large extent covers the mandatory reserves of our country, but is far from sufficient to create an energy security system. In the immediate vicinity of the transit route from Russia and the planned Odessa - Brody - Gdańsk pipeline, there are salt domes: Lubień Kujawski, Ławanie, Rogóźno, Izbica Kujawska. Geological recognition of these structures, despite some research work, is still very poor. The results of preliminary analyzes suggest that Lubień Kujawski has favorable conditions as a potential underground storage of liquid hydrocarbons. Of course, the usefulness of the remaining deposits cannot be ruled out at this stage of exploration.
10. It should be seriously considered that the construction of underground storage facilities is a long-term process. Leaching of storage caverns in a salt deposit lasts from several to several years. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately start constructive, substantive discussions as well as research and design work with the involvement of all necessary parties.
The Polish salt environment is fully prepared for the construction of underground gas, oil and fuel storage facilities in salt deposits. This preparation includes scientific and research, reconnaissance and engineering works, as well as construction and operation. This is due to the experience gained during the construction of CUGS Mogilno storage facilities
and PMRiP Góra.
On behalf of the PSGS Management Board:
Jacek Wachowiak, Andrzej Maciejewski, Grzegorz Kortas
Quo Vadis Sal 2005 - Conference materials