N Ireland Storage 'Closer to FEED'
UK-listed InfraStrata said April 4 it has raised enough to complete front-end engineering design (FEED) on its gas storage project.
The company however cautioned that, of the £925,000 ($1.3mn) now raised through a new share issue, £285,963 is conditional on an InfraStrata AGM vote due to be held before end-April 2018.
Talks continue with third parties interested in taking a stake in its Islandmagee gas storage project in Northern Ireland, the company said, adding that commencement of the FEED would enable such talks to be accelerated and advanced. The EU has offered to co-fund the FEED, expected to cost £2.2mn. Late last year InfraStrata lost a strategic partner when publicly-owned Mutual Energy pulled out of the Islandmagee project, divesting a 10% stake that it had held for a decade.
Closure of Centrica’s Rough storage facility is likely to improve demand for UK/Ireland gas storage, InfraStrata said, making the case for Islandmagee’s envisaged 0.5bn m3 working gas capacity - expected to cost some £300mn ($420mn) to develop (the banner photo courtesy of InfraStrata shows its planned location). The UK's exit from the European Union means that EU co-funding of construction work remains in doubt.
InfraStrata’s owners diluted their interest in the company three months ago, when they sold shares in order to keep it afloat.