EnergyPathways inks deal with ABP to evaluate Port of Barrow

(Sharecast News) - EnergyPathways said on Wednesday that it had signed a collaboration agreement with Associated British Ports to evaluate the Port of Barrow as the location for onshore facilities serving its Marram Energy Storage Hub project.

The AIM-traded energy transition company said the agreement would see EnergyPathways and ABP jointly assess the south-west Cumbria port for infrastructure linked to MESH, which it described as Britain's largest integrated energy storage project.

MESH has been designated a project of national significance by the UK government and is planned to combine compressed air electrical storage with natural gas and hydrogen storage.

The project, located in the Irish Sea and connected into Barrow-in-Furness, would use large-scale subsea storage and has a licence area with the potential to support up to 60 sub-surface salt caverns.

Subject to approvals and financing, EnergyPathways said MESH was targeted to enter operation in 2031.

The company said the project was designed to capture wasted wind energy and generate multi-day dispatchable power at lower cost and with lower emissions than gas-fired power plants.

It said MESH would also more than double Britain's gas storage capacity, storing around six days of national supply and reducing dependence on gas power generators and gas imports.

At the Port of Barrow, the companies will assess the feasibility of building a compressed air storage operations base, gas and hydrogen storage operations base, connection infrastructure for offshore storage facilities, hydrogen and graphite production facilities, and sustainable industrial processing and export facilities.

EnergyPathways said development of the facilities remained subject to a commercial agreement with ABP, as well as financing and planning approvals for MESH.

The company said the project aligned with UK energy, industrial and economic growth strategies, as well as the UK's 2035 Critical Minerals strategy ambitions.

It said the planned hydrogen production facility was expected to produce graphite, a critical mineral used in civil nuclear, defence and battery applications, as a by-product.

EnergyPathways added that the project also supported government ambitions to strengthen and diversify Barrow's economy through Team Barrow, a government initiative involving BAE Systems, Westmorland & Furness Council, the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government, ABP and other organisations.

The company is already working on MESH with Siemens Energy, Wood, Costain and Zenith Energy.

"We are delighted to be working with ABP, the UK's leading and largest ports group," said chief executive officer Ben Clube.

"This relationship highlights the significant opportunities that our MESH integrated energy storage project can bring to Barrow-in-Furness and the UK's energy and industrial sectors.

"MESH can play an important role in supporting Barrow's long-term development as a key hub for energy infrastructure and its potential to play a central role in the UK's future energy system."

Clube said ABP's Port of Barrow provided access to the project's offshore storage development areas in the East Irish Sea, alongside strategically located land, port facilities and export infrastructure.

"This marks another important milestone for the MESH Project as it progresses towards Final Investment Decision, building momentum across key development workstreams," he added.

At 1436 BST, shares in EnergyPathways were flat at 11.5p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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