Gateway wins approval for new gas storage

LONDON (Reuters) - Gateway Storage has won approval to build a gas storage facility in the east Irish Sea, which will have capacity to meet five days of Britain's average demand for the fuel, the company said on Wednesday.

Gateway Storage said the storage would cost 600 million pounds with capacity for 1.5 billion cubic metres of gas.

It would be built in salt caverns 15 miles offshore southwest of Barrow-in-Furness and would be connected to the grid via a new gas compression station adjacent to the existing Morecambe terminals at Barrow.

The company targets to start commercial operation of the storage in 2014.

With Britain's increasing reliance on gas imports, storage facilities would help the country go through cold winter days when demand for heating increases.

The company was set up in 2002 for the gas storage project and is managed by Stag Energy, an independent energy company headquartered in Edinburgh.

(Reporting by Nao Nakanishi)