News

Getting The Facility Built

The Halite project is financially viable and able to attract significant backing to contribute to the extra storage capacity that is needed in the UK. Following consent, construction of the project will commence almost immediately, unlike many gas storage projects that have been approved but lack the economic and financial viability to get them off the drawing board. However, the project will need to attract large scale investment and for this to be successful a clear policy framework will be required.

The UK has made significant progress in recognising the need for increased gas storage in recent years. We believe that a number of further measures would help to bring forward the investment required to meet that need:

• Clear targets for gas storage: clear targets for the amount, and crucially the type, of gas storage the UK requires under different scenarios would bring clarity to the need case and improve investor confidence.
• Continued clarity in the planning process: theUK has suffered in the past from high levels of consent risk and costs for major infrastructure. The new process for major infrastructure has done much to restore confidence among project developers and investors and it will be important to maintain this.
• A clear framework to ensure gas is actually stored: as well as developing storage capacity, the UK also needs clear signals to ensure that gas is actually stored, possibly through an obligation. Putting this in place now would provide clarity on the future market for gas storage and bring forward investment in storage capacity.

Halite believes that the Preesall project presents an ideal opportunity to develop a facility that could be used for decades to come, thereby helping to secure the UK’s future energy security. Crucially it also represents a much needed, significant investment into the UK economy at a vital time.

Read more about the project in our leaflet, Securing the UK’s Energy Future