British Gas owner Centrica has acquired Europe’s largest LNG terminal on the Isle of Grain from National Grid.
Centrica has acquired the Isle of Grain liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal from National Grid in a £1.5 billion deal.
The owner of British Gas partnered alongside American equity investor Equity Capital Partners (ECP) to buy the LNG facility.
After taking into account approximately £1.1bn of new non-recourse project finance debt, Centrica said its 50% share of the equity investment is approximately £200 million.
The Grain LNG terminal, on the Thames Estuary in Kent, is Europe’s largest LNG facility.
The terminal boasts the capacity to process around 15 million tonnes of gas annually, equivalent to about 20% of UK demand.
National Grid launched the sale process in April 2024 as part of a shift towards electricity networks and away from gas infrastructure.
Centrica already owns the Rough gas storage site in the southern North Sea and recently agreed to take a 15 per cent stake in the Sizewell C nuclear project.
The company has been expanding its role in UK energy infrastructure amid growing scrutiny over energy security.
Other bidders for the Grain terminal reportedly included CK Infrastructure (CKI) of Hong Kong and Canadian pension fund OMERS.
Isle of Grain a ‘strategic asset’
Centrica chief executive Chris O’Shea said the Isle of Grain terminal is a “strategic asset that will support the UK’s energy security for many decades to come”.
“That’s why we are so pleased to be investing, continuing Centrica’s pivot towards long-term, predictable infrastructure cash flows, underpinning our medium-term guidance and creating valuable future options,” O’Shea said.
“Our decision to commit £3bn of capital in both Sizewell C and the Isle of Grain demonstrates the attractiveness of the UK as an investment location underpinned by supportive government investment policies.”
ECP president and managing partner Tyler Reeder said: “”As one of the largest private owners of natural gas generation and infrastructure assets in the US, ECP has long understood that natural gas is indispensable to keeping grids resilient and advancing the transition to a lower-carbon future.
“With the emergence of the US as the global leader in low-cost LNG supply and the growing need for reliable natural gas supply across the UK and Europe, we believe Grain LNG will increasingly be relied upon as critical infrastructure to deliver dependable energy to local markets.”
Outgoing National Grid chief executive John Pettigrew said the sale of Grain LNG “marks another successful stope” in the firm’s strategy to “streamline” its operations.
It comes after the company sold its US onshore renewables arm to Brookfield Asset Management in a £1.4bn deal earlier this year.
Centrica and UK gas infrastructure
If completed, the deal would see one of the UK’s most strategic gas import assets come under the control of the country’s largest energy supplier.
LNG import terminals have become increasingly vital to UK energy security, now supplying a significant share of gas demand that complements declining North Sea production, which can no longer fully meet domestic needs.
North Sea offshore industry representatives have also warned that heavy reliance on LNG imports could undermine energy security, and noted that imported LNG generally carries higher lifecycle emissions compared with domestically produced gas.
If Centrica were to control the Isle of Grain LNG terminal alongside Rough and its other assets, including Spirit Energy, it would significantly expand the company’s influence over the UK’s gas supply chain, spanning import, storage, and domestic production.
Centrica is also positioning its offshore Rough facility for a potential hydrogen storage future, but the company has clashed with the UK government over the site.
Centrica reopened Rough gas storage in 2022 to shore up UK energy security amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
However, the Rough site posted a £26 million loss in the first half of 2025 and is not economically sustainable without regulatory backing, according to the company.
Centrica has halted gas injections at Rough and warned it may need to decommission the facility unless a cap-and-floor subsidy model is established to support redevelopment.
The company plans to invest up to £2bn to convert Rough into the world’s largest hydrogen storage facility, potentially storing up to 10 TWh.
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