Plans have been lodged in Belfast for a £250m project to store natural gas in caverns mined into the seabed on the Northern Ireland coast at Islandmagee, opposite the port of Larne in County Antrim.
The company behind the plan hopes to hold 500 million cubic metres of natural gas in the proposed storage facility.
The group behind the project has sought planning permission for the plant, which it says would be the first of its kind anywhere in Ireland. It has promised to create up to 60 jobs, half of them at head office, as well as 200 during construction, and to help secure energy supplies throughout the island.
Islandmagee Storage Ltd (IMSL) wants to base the facility next to the existing Ballylumford power plant. The company plans to drill into ancient salt beds almost one mile beneath Larne Lough and pump in sea water to dissolve the salt, creating seven huge caverns 160 metres high and 80 metres wide.
IMSL managing director Andrew Hindle said the island of Ireland currently has no natural gas storage and relies increasingly on gas imports from outside the UK. He said the proposed development, which would take place over a seven-year period, would make a significant contribution to the security of energy supplies and is designed to supply up to 5% of UK and Ireland daily peak demand.
The company said the storage method has been used across Europe and the US over the last 40 years.
IMSL non-executive director Paddy Larkin said the project was strategically important for the future competitiveness of Northern Ireland as companies seeking to invest would require energy security and stable prices. He added that it had the potential to provide a stabilising influence on prices, reducing price volatility and thereby lowering wholesale gas prices at times of peak demand.
