Certas Energy has announced a period of maintenance and upgrades to the fuel depot on Stornoway, as part of site investment programme.
The work - which is expected to take three to four months - involve maintenance,
as well as upgrades to systems and operations that will ensure compliance with health,
safety and environmental requirements for the foreseeable future.
While tank maintenance and upgrades are ongoing, there will be a “short-term change
of operational procedure” for serving petrol to the island.
Ordinarily, Phillips 66 (P66) supplies Stornoway with petrol via sea tanker deliveries to the Stornoway depot, which is owned and operated by Certas.
During the works, Certas will “road bridge” petrol to serve the community, which involves road tankers laden with petrol driving from the mainland to Stornoway on the CalMac ferry, to ensure continuity of supply.
The change in procedure is a short-term measure which will only affect petrol. No
other grades of fuel will be affected said the firm.
Certas said it accepted this interim change to the standard routine may cause concerns about potential disruptions to supply.
The company moved to “reassure customers that the island is well stocked and the
planned road-bridging is designed to ensure petrol will be available as normal while
upgrade works are undertaken.
“There should be no tangible impact on customers. The local community will be kept updated throughout the process.”
A Certas Energy spokesman said: “Deliveries of petrol to the depot via sea tanker
have been temporarily suspended while we carry out health and safety and environmental
upgrades to ensure the site’s long-term viability.
“No grades of fuel are affected, other than petrol.
“While we work to resolve this issue, petrol will be delivered via ferry and road to ensure uninterrupted supplies to the island.
“Our experienced team have a robust plan and we would like to reassure customers that we do not expect any disruption to service while this interim solution is in place.
“We will revert to our standard method of petrol delivery at the depot as soon as possible.”
Petrol for Lewis and Harris will be transported from mainland by road tanker on CalMac ferry during depot upgrade
22 November 2024
