Press Release
THE CROWN ESTATE WELCOMES THE ENERGY BILL
26 November 2008
The Crown Estate today welcomed the Royal Assent of the Energy Bill.
This bill introduced by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, sees The Crown Estate granted rights to lease gas storage and carbon dioxide in the seabed up to 200 nautical miles from the shore.
Rob Hastings, Director of the Marine Estate at The Crown Estate, said of the new bill: “In the not-too-distant future, our natural resources such as wind and wave will become as important as North Sea oil has been. This bill shows that we are ensuring that we are prepared for this and that in some ways we are leading the world in this technology and its advancement.”
The passing of the Energy Bill also comes as The Crown Estate has agreed a lease with Gateway Storage Company for a 1.5 billion cubic metre gas storage facility in the east Irish Sea.
The project will be built in salt caverns approximately 750 m beneath the surface of the seabed and located 24 km (15 miles) offshore, south-west of Barrow-in-Furness. The Gateway project will add new capacity equal to approximately 30 per cent of current UK storage capacity.
Jason Golder, Development Manager (CCS & Gas Storage) at The Crown Estate, commented on the project: “The Crown Estate is very pleased to issue a lease to Gateway for this exciting new storage project in the Irish Sea.
“Gas storage is a business area that The Crown Estate will now be more involved in thanks to the Energy Bill. It is an important technology and further projects will help the UK’s energy security in the long-term.”
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