Petrofac, the international oil & gas facilities service provider, has acquired a 20% interest in Gateway, a client of Taylor Keogh since 2005. Petrofac has joined Gateway as the technical project operator and will be jointly responsible for developing the project ahead of a Final Investment Decision later this year. The front end engineering and design phase of the project has been completed and the focus is now turning towards finalising the consortium of storage capacity holders and investors. Gateway Storage is targeting 2016 for the commencement of storage services to the UK energy market.
When built, Gateway Storage will be one of the UK’s largest salt cavern storage facilities and will add nearly 30% to the current gas storage capacity in the UK market, sufficient to meet five days of Britain’s average gas demand.
Investment in new storage capacity as a means to bolster the UK’s long-term energy security has been a recurring issue within Parliament for some time. The Government’s Energy Bill, currently proceeding through Parliament, proposes to give additional powers to OFGEM to ensure that this capacity enters the market, but a number of politicians in both Houses have expressed the view that an enhanced Public Service Obligation on gas suppliers would be a better way to incentivise the investment that needs to be made if Gateway and other storage projects are to be built in good time.
For additional information on Gateway, please visit www.gatewaystorage.co.uk
