Irish Entrepreneur Proposes Major Gas Storage Site to Bolster UK Energy Security
Irish businessman Tony O’Reilly Jr has unveiled plans to build a new gas storage facility in the eastern Irish Sea, aiming to shield Britain from blackout risks as it shifts towards renewable energy.
O’Reilly’s company, dCarbonX, is partnering with Italian energy giant Snam on the project, which would convert the depleted Bains gas field about 19 miles off Barrow-in-Furness. The site could store 1.4 bn cubic feet of gas, equal to six days of UK consumption, and may eventually be adapted for hydrogen storage.
«This facility would provide an insurance policy,» O’Reilly said. «Without domestic gas storage, the UK is exposed to global market volatility, especially during winter.»
The proposal rivals Centrica’s plan to expand the Rough storage site in the North Sea, which also has capacity for six days of gas use but is currently loss-making. Centrica has warned it may shut Rough this winter without government support.
Britain has some of the lowest gas storage levels in Europe, with capacity for just 12 days of use compared to over 100 in France. The government is reviewing its «gas system resilience» strategy amid growing reliance on imported LNG and intermittent renewable power.
Kursiv Uzbekistan also reports that China’s exports to Uzbekistan have doubled since the start of the war in Ukraine, reaching almost $1.5 bn between January and August 2025, according to senior Brookings fellow and former chief economist of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) Robin Brooks. He cited official figures from China’s customs authority.
