Gas storage is increasingly crucial to Britain’s energy needs because the country is moving to become dependent on fuel imports as the North Sea becomes exhausted. But the legacy of being able to rely on the North Sea means that the country has very little storage capacity.


Only a streamlining of planning procedures, in keeping with the Government’s general move to speed planning approvals for large projects, is now expected to be outlined in the White Paper.

Roger Salomone, energy adviser with the EEF manufacturers’ organisation, said: “We will be very disappointed if gas storage isn’t properly addressed. If it is missed out in this review, how many reviews are we going to have to have? Storage will be a very big issue if we have a harsh winter.”