Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using salt caverns below the former Royal Navy facility at Portland Port for (a) hydrogen and (b) natural gas storage.

Great Britain has eight natural gas storage facilities including five salt caverns. The Government will issue an update by the autumn on the role gas storage and other forms of flexibility play in security of supply.

The Government is exploring longer-term options and locations to store hydrogen. The UK has strong geological potential to store hydrogen in salt caverns and the Government is engaging with industry to understand the viability of proposed hydrogen storage projects.