In a bid to diversify its energy portfolio and improve winter reliability, Ameren Illinois recently announced plans to upgrade infrastructure at several of its underground natural gas storage fields.
Sites targeted immediately include the Glasford, Hillsboro, Freeburg and Shanghai natural gas storage fields. At Glasford, work has already begun on a new gas injection pipeline and take station in and around the storage field to allow Ameren Illinois to free flow gas from its Panhandle Eastern Pipeline and remove any need to run gas compressors on site. The new pipeline should be completed and in-service as of October.
When it comes to Hillsboro, Freeburg and Shanghai, later this month Ameren Illinois will remove dehydration systems as they near the end of their useful life cycles. These storage fields are saturated with water vapor above the pipeline quality limits that needs to be purified to remove excess water to prevent freeze-ups in lines and equipment on downstream natural gas transmission and distribution lines. Dehydration systems remove moisture from the natural gas and bring moisture levels in the gas back to pipeline quality specifications.
Later this summer, work will begin to replace them with new dehydration systems.
“We saw firsthand during Winter Storm Gerri the role our underground storage fields played in providing readily available natural gas to meet customer heating needs. In one brutal stretch of sub-zero temperatures, our customers used the fourth highest volume of natural gas in nearly 15 years,” Lenny Singh, president and chairman of Ameren Illinois, said. “That level of volume can put a strain on our delivery system, so we’re upgrading our storage capabilities to ensure that we’re prepared to meet demand during the winter months.”
Meanwhile, May should bring a new hydration system and the start of the second phase of a multi-year horizontal well drilling project to the Freeburg natural gas storage field. That work will replace vertical wells and transmission pipelines in use since the mid 1900s and, as of 2027, bring to bear new horizontal wells that should reduce operating and maintenance costs and bring the field in line with modern state and federal pipeline regulations.
By spending less on maintenance, the company concluded this should also bring heating bills down in the coming winters. The company delivers to more than 800,000 natural gas companies in Illinois, thanks to fields like these capable of storing and cycling 24.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas annually.
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