IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i17p6392-d1232138.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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
    National Institute for Nuclear Physics INFN, Division of Florence, Via Bruno Rossi 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, 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)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriele Fibbi & Tommaso Beni & Riccardo Fanti & Matteo Del Soldato, 2023. "Underground Gas Storage Monitoring Using Free and Open Source InSAR Data: A Case Study from Yela (Spain)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-20, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:17:p:6392-:d:1232138
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/17/6392/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/17/6392/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tian Zhang & Wanchang Zhang & Ruizhao Yang & Huiran Gao & Dan Cao, 2022. "Analysis of Available Conditions for InSAR Surface Deformation Monitoring in CCS Projects," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lingbin Meng & Jing Zheng & Ruizhao Yang & Suping Peng & Yuan Sun & Jingyu Xie & Dewei Li, 2023. "Microseismic Monitoring Technology Developments and Prospects in CCUS Injection Engineering," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-21, March.
    2. Gabriele Fibbi & Matteo Del Soldato & Riccardo Fanti, 2022. "Review of the Monitoring Applications Involved in the Underground Storage of Natural Gas and CO 2," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-26, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:17:p:6392-:d:1232138. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.