UK Gas Storage Developer Set to Buy Belfast Yard
Natural gas storage developer InfraStrata has reached a heads of terms agreement to buy the beleaguered Harland & Wolff shipyard in Northern Ireland for £6mn ($7.3mn) from administrators.
Under the deal, InfraStrata is set to acquire the principal assets of Harland & Wolff Heavy Industries and Harland & Wolff Group, including a multi-purpose fabrication facility, quaysides and docking facilities, it said in a statement on October 1. The takeover will allow InfraStrata to bring in-house a large part of the fabrication capability required to implement its Islandmagee gas storage project and proposed floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) scheme.
By using the assets, InfraStrata expects to cut capital costs of each of its projects by 10-15% and reduce construction timelines by 3-5 months. It added that the acquisition would “create secondary revenue streams through contracts in defence, maritime and the energy sectors should such opportunities arise in the future.”
“While our core priority will be to deliver our flagship project in Islandmagee, we believe there are opportunities to welcome potential new clients due to the diverse skill set at the facility,” CEO John Wood commented.
The shipyard went into administration in August, after its Norwegian parent firm Dolphin Drilling filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
InfraStrata aims to take a final investment decision on Islandmagee by the end of the year. The facility on a peninsula off the east coast of northern Island will be capable of storing 500mn m3 of gas in seven caverns. Gas injection is slated to start in 2022, with full-scale operations beginning the following year. InfraStrata also wants to build FSRUs to bring more LNG into the UK.