Consultation on the access regime for the proposed Islandmagee gas storage facility

Islandmagee Storage Limited (IMSL) has applied for a licence to store gas in a proposed gas storage facility in the Larne lough area. We are currently applying our licence application procedures, but before we can consult on the gas storage licence we must consider the third party access (TPA) regime for the facility as required under Article 33 of Directive 2009/73/EC.

The consultation paper sets out the requirements of the Directive with regards to TPA and provides the Utility Regulator’s assessment of the most appropriate access regime for the proposed IMSL facility. 

In their application, IMSL have requested that a use-it-or-lose-it (UIOLI) condition is not included in their licence. The UIOLI condition requires that unused storage capacity is made available to other parties interested in using the facility. The consultation paper provides the Utility Regulator’s initial position on this request.