Infrastrata PLC Islandmagee Update: Major FEED Milestone Completed (6662D)

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RNS Number : 6662D

Infrastrata PLC

11 October 2018

Prior to publication, the information contained within this announcement was deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). With the publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.

11 October 2018

InfraStrata plc

("InfraStrata" or the "Company")

Islandmagee Gas Storage Project Update - Major FEED Milestone Completed

InfraStrata plc (AIM: INFA), the UK quoted company focused on the development of natural gas storage capacity, is pleased to provide an update on FEED ("Front End Engineering Design") progress for its Islandmagee gas storage project (the "Project"), having now achieved nearly 70% of the pre-established milestones (11/16).

FEED commenced in May 2018 and is scheduled to be delivered in accordance with the EU Grant provisions. The reports required by the EU are anticipated to be submitted within Q4 2018. FEED remains on budget with no significant issues being uncovered. Milestone 11 has now been completed, following excellent endeavours by our FEED contractors Costain and DEEP. to achieve this ahead of schedule.

Current Milestone Progress

 
 Milestone      End                 Description                              Status 
              of Month 
     1         April     Contract Award Costain              InfraStrata   - Completed 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
     2          May      Contract Award DEEP                 InfraStrata   - Completed 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
     3          May      Appointment of Subsurface Expert    InfraStrata   - Completed 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
     4          May      Issue FEED schedule, project        Costain       - Completed 
                          and quality plans 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
     5          May      Current Design Agreed               Costain       - Completed 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
     6         June      Current Design Agreed               DEEP          - Completed 
                                                              KBB 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
     7         June      Appoint Owners Engineer             InfraStrata   - Completed 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
     8         July      Issue Process Flow Diagrams         Costain       - Completed 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
     9        August     Gas & Leaching layout review        Costain       - Completed 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
    10        August     All Process & Instrumentation       Costain       - Completed 
                          Diagrams 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
    11         Oct.      Engineering Design Complete         Costain       - Completed 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
    12         Oct.      All Investigation work on samples   DEEP 
                          complete                            KBB 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
    13         Oct.      Cavern Design & Rock Mechanics      DEEP 
                          Complete                            KBB 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
    14         Nov.      Surface FEED Deliverables &         Costain 
                          Estimates 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
    15         Nov.      Subsurface FEED Deliverables        DEEP 
                          & Estimates                         KBB 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
    16         Dec.      Submit Reports To EU                InfraStrata 
            ----------  ----------------------------------  ------------  ------------ 
 

The engineering design that has been completed is intended to position InfraStrata's proposed Islandmagee facility as a globally competitive and technologically advanced, fast-cycle, pioneering gas storage facility. Costain, DEEP, Atkins and WSP have all worked together seamlessly to ensure the best possible outcome for InfraStrata.

The Expression of Interest ("EOI") period has now ended and its many responses are currently being evaluated prior to a bid pack being issued to the selected EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contractors in December of this year. Work continues at pace to examine ways for potential enabling works to be undertaken between FEED completion and final investment decision ("FID").

Advanced discussions continue between InfraStrata and potential project equity providers and offtake partners.

John Wood, Chief Executive Officer commented "Completion of the Project's Engineering Design is a major fundamental milestone for InfraStrata. We still have some milestones left to complete prior to completing FEED, however, with the information we have to date we do not foresee any issues and expect to complete FEED on time and on budget."

For further information, please contact:

 
 InfraStrata plc                                  c/o Yellow Jersey 
  John Wood, Chief Executive                       [phone] 
                                                   8825 
 Allenby Capital Limited (AIM Nominated 
  Adviser & Joint Broker)                         [phone] 
  Jeremy Porter / Alex Brearley / Liz Kirchner     5656 
 SI Capital Limited (Joint Broker)                [phone] 
  Nick Emerson                                     4038 
 Yellow Jersey                                    [phone] 
  Tim Thomson                                      8825 
 

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

InfraStrata is an independent gas storage company focused on the UK and Ireland. Further information is available on the Company's website: www.infrastrata.co.uk.

Background on the Islandmagee Storage Project

The Islandmagee gas storage project is a proposed salt cavern gas storage facility located on Islandmagee in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The Board of InfraStrata believes that the proposed 500 million cubic metres Natural Gas Cavern Storage facility will provide over 25% of the UK's Natural Gas Storage once constructed, and will be situated adjacent to the Scotland Northern Ireland (gas) Pipeline (SNIP) and the Moyle 500 Megawatt Electricity Interconnector. Work commenced in 2007 with the acquisition of 3D seismic data to image the Permian salt in the Larne Lough area. During 2012, planning permission was granted for the project and a gas storage licence was issued by the Utility Regulator. In 2015 a well was drilled to core the salt and confirm the technical feasibility of the project, supported in part by the European Commission. The Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) element of the Project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2018. To date approximately GBP11.5m has been invested in the project.

Further information is available on the company's website: www.infrastrata.co.uk

The Front End Engineering & Design (FEED) and Insitu Downhole Testing programme for the Islandmagee gas storage project is co-financed by the European Union's Connecting Europe Facility.

Disclaimer releasing the European Union from any liability in terms of the content of the dissemination materials:

"The sole responsibility of this publication lies with the author. The European Union is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein."

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October 11, 2018 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)