In the Ile-de-France Region the gas distribution infrastructure is made up as follows: the high-pressure gas distribution network (GRTgas) which encircles the city of Paris and crosses it following the River Seine, which carries gas from LNG terminals and onshore interconnections with neighbouring countries, the low-pressure gas distribution network (GRDF) and finally four storage sites (Storengy). It has few emerging sites and very little land reserves in the Greater Paris - Grand Paris Metropolis -: all the pipelines are underground and the land occupied by GRTgaz represents merely 9 ha.
One of the advantages of gas is that it can easily be stored. The four underground storage sites in the Ile-de-France Region have a storage capacity of of almost 40 TWh, that is nearly 55% of the region’s annual gas consumption or the total consumption of Grand Paris Metropolis. They are essential for the regional infrastructure to function properly and to guarantee the region’s gas supply: they are filled during the summer and the gas is withdrawn during the very cold winter periods.
Unlike electricity, gas is not present everywhere on the metropolitan territory. Its development is subject to profitability criteria or political decisions. The map therefore enables one to locate areas of Grand Paris Metropolis which are not provided for by the natural gas network. These are mainly areas of individual housing and the future sectors of projects in the inner ring of suburbs - la Petite Couronne - as well as certain Parisian neighbourhoods such as Clichy-Batignolles.
