Energy minister Lord Bourne has granted a development consent order for the Preesall underground gas storage project proposed by Halite Energy on the east side of the Wyre Estuary in Lancashire, which will be used to store and extract gas from local underground salt caverns.
Lord Bourne said investment in the new infrastructure would provide storage space for 130 million m3 of gas (which could rise to 900 million m3 provided certain extra conditions are met) and was “essential” to help keep the lights on and bills down.