Gas storage project being eyed to help boost UK capacity by up to 50%

Plans are being mooted for an £830 million project off the UK coast that claims to be able to boost the UK’s depleted gas storage capacity by up to 50%, it has been revealed.

British-Irish energy firm dCarbonX, which is backed by Europe’s largest gas infrastructure operator Snam, is proposing to redevelop the former Bains gas site, which is near Barrow-in-Furness and around 30 kilometres off the coast of north-west England in Morecambe Bay.

The company said it would have the capacity to increase the UK’s gas storage by as much as 50%, and help address a mounting “national security risk”.

Britain has the lowest gas storage capability in the G7, at just 12 days worth of average winter gas demand, far below the 90 days or more for Germany, France and Italy, according to dCarbonX.

The Bains site would be capable of storing 1.4 billion cubic metres of gas, which is thought to be enough to meet around an extra six days of average demand, the group said.

Tony O’Reilly, chief executive of dCarbonX, said: “The UK doesn’t just have a market gap – it has a strategic risk.

“Gas is no longer just a commodity; it is the key transition fuel and an insurance policy for stable growth.

“As such, failure to address its essential role is a national security risk. Other countries are acting accordingly. We must do the same.”

The group said the Bains site, which was previously a producing gas field, could be operational in less than five years, but is subject to regulatory and investment approval.

Rough, off the coast of Yorkshire in the North Sea, is the UK’s biggest gas storage site.

Owner Centrica has long warned it will be decommissioned without government support to allow investment in the site, because of concerns about its financial liability.

The Rough site comprises about half of Britain’s storage capacity, and acts as a buffer when the weather is especially cold and demand for gas spikes.

Centrica chief executive Chris O’Shea has previously claimed that if Rough had been operating at full capacity over the two years at the height of the energy crisis, it could have saved UK consumers more than £5 billion, or £200 for every household.