NSTA approves one Irish Sea gas storage application, declines another
Two companies are advancing plans for offshore gas storage in the UK and Ireland, with dCarbonX securing a key license from Britain’s North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) and EnergyPathways resubmitting its application after an initial rejection.
dCarbonX secures award of gateway gas storage license
The NSTA has granted dCarbonX Ltd. a license for gas storage in the East Irish Sea offshore northwest England, the company announced on its LinkedIn earlier this week.
The award allows the company to progress the process of obtaining the required regulatory approvals ahead of gas storage operation, including further approvals from the NSTA.
dCarbonX operates the GS007 license, containing the depleted Bains gas field, formerly developed by Centrica.
Bains, located 27 km west of Blackpool, Lancashire, and in water depths of 18-27 m, produced via a single-well subsea tieback to the South Morecambe Field production. The subsea facilities were decommissioned in 2018.
dCarbonX plans a redevelopment of Bains to accommodate three to four days’ gas supply for the UK.
The company is also working with ESB and Bord Gais Energy (Centrica) on the Kestrel project offshore southeast Ireland. This is a proposed redevelopment of the decommissioned gas reservoirs in the offshore Kinsale area gas fields, originally developed by Marathon Oil, for large-scale energy storage.
EnergyPathways resubmits gas storage license
Another proposed offshore gas storage development close to Bains is a key part of EnergyPathways’ MESH project. The NSTA has turned down the company’s application for a gas storage license, citing changed circumstances, according to an Aug. 14 EnergyPathways news release.
EnergyPathways said it would review its options going forward, including amending and resubmitting its gas storage license application to the NSTA.
MESH is a planned large-scale integrated energy storage facility (up to 20 Twh) that would supply gas, hydrogen and low-carbon power to the UK for more than 25 years.
It would involve installing new gas storage, hydrogen storage and compressed air storage technologies connected to local offshore wind farms.
About the Author
Jeremy Beckman
Editor, Europe
Jeremy Beckman has been Editor Europe, Offshore since 1992. Prior to joining Offshore he was a freelance journalist for eight years, working for a variety of electronics, computing and scientific journals in the UK. He regularly writes news columns on trends and events both in the NW Europe offshore region and globally. He also writes features on developments and technology in exploration and production.