Portland Gas started work on site to build a gas storage facility at Upper Osprey on Portland. The first stage of the £456m scheme will be completed by the end of 2009. When finished, the project will be the UK’s largest onshore gas storage facility, designed to supply up to 7.5% of the nation’s gas on a cold winter’s day.

The first task is to build the wellpad from which drilling down to the salt sequence deep below Portland can take place, the first stage to create the caverns to store natural gas.

The initial works on the wellpad will be performed by Hydrock, a leading national provider of consultancy and specialist contracting services for construction, infrastructure and the environment. Engineering design work is being undertaken by CB&I who have global experience in the engineering, procurement and construction of major energy infrastructure projects.

Tags: Portland Gas plc