As part of a wider consultation on electricity market reform, the Government is consulting on measures to encourage additional gas storage capacity in the UK market. The question will be whether these measures, giving OFGEM additional powers and changes to the gas industry’s Uniform Network Code (and to feature in the upcoming Energy Security & Green Economy Bill), will provide the vital spur to the new investment in storage that is required for a number of projects that have been given consent.
Taylor Keogh has supported the Gateway Gas Storage project in the Irish Sea since 2005: it was the first scheme to receive a Storage Licence from the UK Government earlier this year, after it had secured its main planning and environmental consents in 2008. Front end engineering & design, involving teams from AMEC, Senergy and PB Power, is set to be completed before Christmas and steps to secure additional financing for the project are ongoing.
When built, the £600m plus facility will add new capacity equal to approximately 30% of current UK storage capacity, sufficient to meet five days of Britain’s average gas demand. Gateway will comprise 20 salt caverns, each the size of the Albert Hall, and sited approximately 750m beneath the surface of the seabed. Located 15 miles offshore, south west of Barrow-in-Furness, the storage scheme will be connected to the National Gas Transmission System via a new pipeline to a gas compression station adjacent to the existing Morecambe gas terminals at Barrow. The commencement of storage services is targeted for 2014/15. www.gatewaystorage.co.uk
