Gateway seeks go-ahead for gas storage
Offshore staff
EDINBURGH, UK --Gateway Storage Co. is seeking to develop a £500 million ($1 billion) offshore gas storage facility for the UK market.
It has submitted planning applications to the UK for the 1.1 bcm (38.85 bcf) capacity complex, which would be built in salt caverns over 750 m (2,460 ft) below the seabed of the Irish Sea. If approved, this facility could be in operation by mid-2011. Gateway claims it would add new capacity equivalent to around 25% of the UK's current gas storage, enough to meet two days of peak winter demand.
The location for the caverns is 15 mi (24.14 km) offshore Cumbria on the English northwest coast. They would be connected to the UK grid via a new pipeline tied into a gas compression station next to the Morecambe field gas terminals at Barrow-in-Furness.
Gateway has applied to the Marine and Fisheries Agency of the government department Defra to drill and install the offshore structures, and to implement gas injection, brine discharge, and additional offshore works. Separately, it has applied to BERR (formerly the Department of Trade and Industry) for permission to construct the offshore pipeline.
10/30/2007