The government is in talks with energy company Centrica about reopening a giant gas storage facility if European supplies from Russia are disrupted.
The talks are part of contingency plans being examined ahead of winter amid war in Ukraine.
Centrica’s Yorkshire facility was mothballed in 2017 when the government refused to subsidize it.
The BBC understands the government may now be ready to help restore a strategic gas reserve.
The talks are part of plans for a “reasonable worst-case scenario” in which Russia halts all gas supplies to Europe, resulting in Norwegian gas supplies being diverted from the UK to Europe.
These plans include extending the life of the UK’s few remaining coal-fired power stations. Business Minister Kwasi Kwarteng wrote to owners EDF, Drax and Uniper in April and on Friday last week instructed National Grid’s electricity network operator to examine what would be needed to expand production.
The Government has also contacted EDF to see what options are available to extend the life of Hinkley Point B, a nuclear power station in Somerset.
The UK receives a very small amount of natural gas from Russia, but relies on Norway for a third of supplies. There are concerns that Norwegian supplies could be diverted if Russia halts supplies to the European Union or the bloc boycotts supplies over the Kremlin’s attack on Ukraine.
The EU relies on Russia for 40% of its gas supplies.
The UK also imports liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar and the US.
A flurry of LNG has arrived in the UK in recent weeks as suppliers use the UK terminals as a hub for deliveries to Europe. Tankers have been turned away as there is no space to store.
At full capacity, Centrica’s facility in Rough, Yorkshire can store the UK’s gas needs for 10 to 12 days. Company insiders say that if they started work now, up to nine days could supply Britain’s gas needs through this winter.
It was closed five years ago when Centrica told the government that the £2-3 billion investment needed to extend its lifespan made no economic sense for a private company.
At the time, the government refused to subsidize the plant, telling Centrica “unless the market thinks it makes sense, neither does the government,” according to a company insider.
Government sources said there was a slim chance that Russia would halt all gas supplies to the EU or that Norway would divert supplies from the UK.
They pointed out that many Norwegian gas wells are directly connected to the UK and could not be diverted.
Another source of energy could be the Hinkley Point B nuclear power plant, which has already had its life extended from an original shutdown date in 2011 and was scheduled to shut down in July this year.
An EDF insider told the BBC it would not be free and the timing is very tight.
“Each extension costs more in terms of investment, as does the decision to get your car through the next MOT, but nuclear power has the added dimension of safety proofing,” he said. “So it’s not necessarily easy, and given the July 2022 closing date, that’s going to change direction very soon if they plan to close in a couple of weeks.”
The BBC understands that the government, which is awaiting evidence of the business case and the safety implications of such an extension, has not made a formal request to EDF.
A spokesman for the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) said: “Any extension of the operating life of a nuclear power plant would require a robust safety case from the operator to demonstrate that the plant can be operated safely for an extended period of time.
“This evidence would then be thoroughly assessed by a team of experienced ONR inspectors.”
Speaking to Times Radio, Government Secretary Chris Philp described the contingency plans as “a sensible precautionary measure given that gas supplies from Russia and Ukraine are so badly disrupted for obvious reasons and of course we use quite a bit of gas to generate electricity.”
He added: “A lot of ours comes from Norway and in the form of LNG, but of course any disruption to the global gas market will have a ‘knock-on effect’ on the UK.”
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