THE construction of massive gas storage facilities on Portland is finally due to get under way.

Last November, Portland Gas said the start of the project would be delayed as a result of the credit crunch.

But the company has today announced that it is making ‘financial arrangements’ that will allow work to begin at Upper Osprey Quay in July.

A company spokesman admitted that it ‘may take some time’ for the full funding to be found for the project and that Portland Gas was still talking to potential investors, including utility, oil and gas companies.

He added that up to 300 temporary jobs could be created during the construction phase of the project but that some of the posts would have to be filled by specialist contractors from out of the area.

Once completed, the site will employ 25 permanent staff and Portland Gas is keen to employ local people where possible.

The project involves drilling chambers into Triassic salt deposits beneath the former naval base that can be used to store up to 35 billion cubic feet of gas.

The company plans to use the 220-million-year-old salt layers nearly 8,000ft under Portland which can be dissolved to create 14 impermeable caverns to store natural gas equivalent to one per cent of our total annual demand.

Once the gas is needed it will enter a pipeline which goes across Weymouth Bay and under Redcliff Point near Osmington, White Horse Hill, the Frome water meadows, the A35, the West Stafford bypass and the railway before reaching a central gas control point at Mappowder where it will be linked to the national gas transmission system to provide gas to homes in the South West.

The £450 million project was approved by Dorset County Council last year.

The Portland Gas spokesman said the company had already started talking to the European Investment Bank (EIB) about funding the project.

He added: “All the pre-start planning conditions for the project were met during February 2009, enabling work to start as soon as funding is secured.”

The company aims to begin storing gas by April 2013 and to have finished building a pipeline across Weymouth Bay by the summer of 2010.

Portland Gas chief executive officer Andrew Hindle added: “We fully recognise the importance of progressing this project and every effort is being made to adhere to the original construction timetable as both a corporate and national priority.

“Our small team of dedicated staff have worked very hard and effectively in very challenging conditions and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them and our shareholders for their continued support.”

Mr Hindle stressed that the charitable work being developed by the Portland Gas Trust remained an essential part of the project, which is still set to include a visitors’ centre and museum of geology.

Portland Gas is completing a similar project in Northern Ireland and investigating potential future projects in Europe.

GAS STORAGE LEVELS

THE dominant position of Russia in the gas export market has heightened the need for gas storage facilities in Britain.

The country has small amounts of gas storage space compared with some of its European neighbours and the Government is now seeking to increase energy security in readiness for when North Sea supplies run out. The recent escalation of Russia’s gas dispute with Ukraine has highlighted the risks of a European energy crisis. The Parliamentary Business and Enterprise Committee says Britain urgently requires a growth in storage capacity.