LNG tanks are employed in a variety of types throughout the world according to social needs and the site environment.

Storage tanks are broken down into three categories: in-ground storage tanks, below ground storage tanks and above ground storage tanks.

Today’s LNG storage tank typically has 100,000 m3 or more of capacity and is designed to facilitate a process that works with the laws of physics to keep the temperature inside the tank from warming. The process, called autorefrigeration, keeps the temperature of LNG constant through LNG vapor release.
LNG storage tanks are required at LNG terminals where a large volume of LNG has to be contained safely for a long time or can be used to meet peak demand needs in certain niche markets.

The UK National Grid for instance owns and operates 4 LNG storage facilities that liquefy natural gas by cooling it to -160 degrees centigrade and store it in liquid form.
The facilities are situated in strategic locations close to areas of high demand or at the extremities of the network. Their key feature is their location and their ability to rapidly revaporize the natural gas, and deliver it to the National Transmission System (NTS). As a result, LNG storage is able to provide a peak gas supply to shippers and supplement National Grid’s network capacity.

In addition, LNG from storage is used as a contingency against the risk of emergencies such as system constraints, failures in supply or failures in end user interruption. When an annual service is booked from the NTS, a quantity of injectability, space and deliverability is reserved for a whole year. The cost of this capacity is invoiced in 12 monthly instalments. In addition to capacity charges, the customer pays commodity charges on the quantities of gas injected into storage or withdrawn from storage.

The main features of an LNG Storage Service are: High Deliverability over short duration at economic prices; Reliable risk management tool; Within Day withdrawal nominations at short notice on high demand days; ‘Allocation Whole’ – customers allocated the capacity nominated; Costs fixed – known in advance
LNG can also be used as storage by a consumer and situated in strategic locations close to areas of high demand. Their key feature is their location and their ability to rapidly revaporise the natural gas and deliver it to a consumer who may be totally dependent on having his gas and needs such a backup if something should happen to the transmission system.

In this manner, LNG storage is able to provide a peak gas supply to shippers and supplement a transmission network’s capacity. In addition, LNG storage is used as a contingency against the risk of emergencies such as system constraints, failures in supply or failures in end user interruption.