Centrica Energy awarded the engineering procurement and construction job at the terminal to Costain and pipeline specialist Land and Marine.

Preliminary work has already started on the pipeline project at the terminals, which will see a 1.1km 36inch underground pipe run from the south to north terminals.

The new pipeline is needed because of European Union legislation, which will prohibit the sale of a refrigerant called freon from the end of 2014.

Freon is used to cool the gas piped to the south terminal as part of the process to clean it before it can be pumped into the National Grid.

With the impending ban on the sale of freon, Centrica Energy has decided to look for alternative technologies to remove moisture.

The solution is a ‘drying bead’ which acts in the same way as the silica gel found in new bags or shoes used to absorb water.

This alternative technology is already used at Centrica Energy’s north terminal in Barrow, and the new pipeline will transfer the south terminal gas 1.1km underground to the neighbouring terminal.

Costain initially provided Centrica Energy with a Front End Engineering Design review in relation to the project at the Barrow onshore terminals.

Andrew Wyllie, Chief Executive of Costain, said: “The Barrow Gas Terminals provide enough gas to meet the demand for 1.5m homes in the UK and are key to securing the nation’s future energy needs.

“Having previously provided Centrica Energy with front-end consultancy for the terminals project, we are now delighted to build on our five-year collaboration with the company with this further contract.”