Parsons Brinckerhoff to advise on development of major UK gas storage system

Published: 2010-01-27

International engineering consultancy Parsons Brinckerhoff, has been appointed by Gateway Storage Company, to advise on the front end engineering design (FEED) of underground salt caverns that will form the main structure for a critical new underground gas storage system for the UK.

Located in the East Irish Sea off northwest England, the £600 million Gateway storage scheme will increase the UK’s gas storage capacity by around 1.5 billion cubic metres - providing coverage for an additional five days of UK average gas demand.

Gateway has also appointed AMEC in the FEED for the onshore and offshore elements and Senergy, which will focus on the offshore infrastructure and logistics of the FEED.

Parsons Brinckerhoff has called upon the expertise of its energy storage services team in North America, which specialises in storage cavern systems in salt and hard rock.

Nick Flew, managing director of Parsons Brinckerhoff’s European business, said: “This is a crucially important project for the UK’s security of supply, particularly for the domestic market. The engineering challenge to deliver the scheme is considerable and it is absolutely the type of work where Parsons Brinckerhoff’s expertise comes to the fore. It also demonstrates our ability to bring to bear specialist knowledge from around the world wherever it is needed.”

Work on the scheme over the next 12 months will support a commitment to construction of the facility at the end of 2010 and enable the commencement of gas storage services for the UK market in 2014. The facility will add new capacity equal to approximately 30 per cent of current UK storage capacity.

Parsons Brinckerhoff’s energy storage services team is currently involved with a number of other significant cavern storage projects in North America, Asia and the UK.

Issued by:

Nick Welsh, Parsons Brinckerhoff, 01483 528568 (mob 07770 832838)
welshn@pbworld.com

Notes to editors:

Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) is a global leader in developing and operating infrastructure around the world, with around 15,000 employees dedicated to meeting the needs of clients and communities across Europe, Africa, the Americas, the Middle East, Asia and the Australia-Pacific region.  Clients come to PB for a wide range of advice, skills and resources in strategic consulting, programme management, planning, engineering, construction management and operations. For over a century PB has earned a distinguished reputation for delivering world-class infrastructure and its technical expertise in transportation, power, community development, water and the environment.

Gateway Storage secured consent from the UK Government in November 2008 and from Barrow Council in June 2008, and a site licence agreement from the Crown Estate in 2007.

Gateway Storage is a company that was formed to develop the gas storage project and is managed by Stag Energy.  Stag Energy is an independent company, headquartered in Edinburgh.  The company, established in 2002, has extensive experience of managing the development, construction and operations of gas storage and power generation projects in the UK and overseas.

Storing gas in salt caverns enables firms to retrieve gas rapidly to cope with spikes in peak demand. The British Geological Survey, in a report commissioned by BERR, highlighted a number of offshore areas suitable for salt caverns, including the Irish Sea and the Southern North Sea.  In its report, the BGS specifically noted that Gateway’s site was located in one of the very best areas in the UK.

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