INFA.L Regulatory News (INFA)

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.

21 December 2018

InfraStrata plc

("InfraStrata" or the "Company")

Islandmagee Gas Storage Project - Issue of Invitation to Tender

InfraStrata plc (AIM: INFA), the UK quoted company focused on the development of natural gas storage capacity, is pleased to announce that it has today issued an ITT (Invitation to Tender) package for its Islandmagee gas storage project (the "Project") in order to appoint an EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contractor for construction of the Project.

The issuing of the ITT follows on from the recent completion of the FEED (Front End Engineering Design) and the invitation for expressions of interest in construction of phase 1 of the Project that was issued in September. The expressions of interest received have been evaluated and highlighted the following organisations who have been selected to be included within the ITT round:

· WSP

· SNC-Lavalin

· Saipem

· Petrofac

· Fluor

· Costain

The ITT includes a package for all surface, subsurface and integration works required to develop the Project. The Project works have been split into phase 1 (two caverns) and phase 2 (six caverns) for a total of 8 caverns and therefore, it is expected that the contract will be awarded in two staged phases in line with the planned construction phases. There is no guarantee that by running this ITT process InfraStrata will find an EPC contractor with which it is able to reach mutually agreeable terms.

The date for receiving ITT returns from potential EPC contractors has been set as 28 February 2019, providing eight clear weeks to formulate responses. InfraStrata is also in the process of finalising the ITT documents for the Owners Engineer package required to oversee the selected EPC contactor. It is expected that package will be issued in the new year.

John Wood, Chief Executive Officer commented: "We are happy to have released the ITT package before the end of 2018, to ensure that we receive offers back in the early part of next year. Selecting an EPC contractor will be an important step on our road to final investment decision (FID) by the end of H1 2019."

Further updates will be provided in due course.

For further information, please contact:

-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.infrastrataplc.com 

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. The facility 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 was completed in November 2018 and the FEED report was submitted to the European Union in December 2018 in accordance with the Company's grant conditions. To date approximately £13.5m has been invested in the project.

Further information is available on the company's website: www.infrastrataplc.com 

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."