By rosebell
The project, connected to onshore infrastructure at Barrow-in-Furness, is planned as an integrated energy storage development combining compressed air energy storage (CAES) with natural gas and hydrogen storage.
The initial CAES development is being designed around four large offshore salt caverns of approximately 700,000m³ each. EnergyPathways is targeting around 300MW of power capacity and 55.2GWh of energy storage, providing more than seven days of sustained output.
Surplus electricity from the UK grid and offshore wind farms would be used to compress air for storage within the underground caverns. When electricity is required, the compressed air would be withdrawn, heated and expanded through turbines to generate power.
EnergyPathways has previously described an offshore arrangement comprising three compression trains and two generation trains connected to the four storage caverns.
The underground development could ultimately be considerably larger. EnergyPathways’ gas storage licence area in the East Irish Sea has been identified as having the potential to accommodate up to 60 large-scale salt storage caverns for natural gas and hydrogen as the wider MESH development expands.
The company has said the wider project could therefore provide multi-terawatt-hour-scale integrated energy storage.
MESH will also incorporate storage associated with the existing Marram gas field. EnergyPathways’ strategy combines purpose-built salt cavern storage with gas storage in existing geological reservoirs, alongside the CAES system and future hydrogen production.
The company intends to reuse existing offshore infrastructure where practicable. An onshore sustainable industry park is planned at Barrow-in-Furness, including the CAES operations base and proposed low-carbon hydrogen and graphite production facilities. Existing pipeline infrastructure is also being considered for connecting the offshore and onshore elements.
Jacobs will manage the project’s planning and Development Consent Order (DCO) strategy, including environmental planning, technical coordination and stakeholder engagement, as EnergyPathways seeks consent through the UK’s Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project process.
The consultant will also support EnergyPathways’ submission to Ofgem’s forthcoming Long Duration Electricity Storage Cap & Floor scheme and its grid connection application.
Its scope includes coordinating environmental and technical studies, engagement with local councils and regional government, and aligning statutory consents with the overall project programme.
EnergyPathways is targeting operation of MESH by 2031, subject to securing the necessary consents and financing.
Jacobs Executive Vice President Richard Sanderson said: “As the UK accelerates investment in nationally significant energy infrastructure, successful delivery depends on a consenting strategy that integrates environmental stewardship and robust regulatory planning.”
He added that Jacobs’ experience delivering major projects through the DCO process would support EnergyPathways as MESH progresses through planning and regulatory approvals.
EnergyPathways CEO Ben Clube said Jacobs’ experience of nationally significant infrastructure and complex engineering projects in northwest England would be valuable as the company advances MESH.
Jacobs will also assess evolving legislation and planning policy to identify consenting risks and coordinate the project’s parallel regulatory and planning processes.
