Shale-gas wells as virtual storage for supporting intermittent renewables

Mature shale-gas wells possess a property that enables cyclic production and shut-in without incurring revenue losses. Based on this property, we suggest that fields with mature shale-gas wells may act as virtual gas storage for supplying fast-ramping gas power plants which balance intermittent renewable generation. By enabling gas supply to power plants to circumvent intermediate third-party storage, we argue that the proposed integration facilitates demand-driven gas production, and discuss how the scheme may support utilization of renewables and reduce supply-related greenhouse-gas emissions in electricity generation. •A novel integration strategy of shale gas and renewable electricity generation.•Mature shale-gas wells enable shut-ins without incurring revenue losses.•This property enables the use mature shale-gas wells as virtual gas storage.•Proposed scheme facilitates demand-driven gas production.•Omitting intermediate gas storage reduces GHG emissions from producer to end-user.