Bacton Storage Company awards safety support contract to ESR Technology

International safety and risk management consultancy to deliver range of safety support services for UK’s second largest gas storage facility

Warrington, UK. ESR Technology, one of the industry’s leading engineering, safety and risk management consultancies, today announced that it had been awarded a contract by Bacton Storage Company Limited (BSCL) to supply a broad range of safety support services associated with the onshore and offshore Baird gas storage facilities.

Centrica Storage Limited and Perenco UK formed BSCL with the objective of storing natural gas offshore. BSCL is proposing to store natural gas in the existing Baird offshore reservoir, located in the Southern North Sea, some 86km from the North Norfolk coast. Once converted, the Baird gas field will be the UK’s second largest gas storage facility. The facility will have a capacity of approximately 60 billion cubic feet (bcf), just over half the 118-bcf capacity of Rough, the UK's largest gas storage facility, which is owned and operated by Centrica Storage Limited.

ESR Technology has been commissioned to provide a broad range of safety related services during the front-end engineering design (FEED) stage of the project including an inherent safety review, hazard identification study, hazard and operability study, onshore and offshore quantified risk assessments and a safety integrity level study.

Pre-development studies on the project will run until Q1 2010 before a final investment decision is made in Q3 2010. If a decision is made to progress, BSCL will lead the development of the project and operate the facility on completion.

“We are delighted to be working with BSCL on one of the UK’s premier gas storage projects,” said Neil Ketchell, ESR Technology’s General Manager for Oil and Gas Safety. “Gas storage is critical to managing the seasonal peaks and troughs of supply and demand in the UK and ESR Technology looks forward to bringing its long established expertise in safety and risk assessment to the project.” 

For further information about ESR Technology visit: www.esrtechnology.com

For further information about Centrica Storage visit: www.centrica-sl.co.uk

For further information about Perenco visit: www.perenco.com

About Centrica Storage

Centrica Storage Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Centrica plc. It operates the Rough gas storage facility in the Southern North Sea, the Easington onshore gas processing terminal in East Yorkshire and also the Langeled gas receiving terminal on behalf of Gassco.

About Perenco

Perenco UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Perenco SA and one of the largest operators in the UK Southern North Sea.  It has operated several offshore facilities and the Bacton gas terminal for the last five years and has an excellent track record across all areas of operation.

About ESR Technology

ESR Technology is one of the industry’s leading engineering, safety and risk management consultancies.  The company provides independent technical expertise, products and services to help its customers ensure asset integrity, improve reliability, manage safety and risk and transfer best practice.

ESR Technology was previously the engineering, safety and risk division of AEA Technology which was formed from the commercial arm of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.  Its heritage means that it has more than 40 years experience of the application of engineering excellence to demanding projects.

ESR Technology’s highly skilled, world-class consultancy teams have in-depth experience of working with customers across many sectors including oil and gas, power generation, aviation and space.

ESR Technology also hosts five internationally renowned Centres of Excellence. They are the National Centre of Tribology, the National Non-Destructive Testing Centre, the European Space Tribology Laboratory, the Pump Centre and HOIS.

Press contact

Adrian Lambert
Marketing Manager
ESR Technology Ltd
Whittle House
410 Birchwood Park
Warrington
WA3 6FW
UK
Email: adrian.lambert@esrtechnology.com
Tel: +44 (0)1925 843477
Mobile: +44 (0)7968 707569