Fourfold boost in store for UK’s wind-powered gas and hydrogen storage project with license submission

England-based energy transition-focused player EnergyPathways has handed in an application for an enlarged gas storage license, covering the natural gas and hydrogen storage elements of its flagship project, located off the Cumbria coast in the East Irish Sea.

The formal submission of an extended license application follows the news that Ed Milliband, Britain’s Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, highlighted that EnergyPathways’ flagship Marram Energy Storage Hub (MESH) project should be considered a development of national significance.

Ben Clube, CEO of EnergyPathways, commented: “We are delighted to have formally submitted a natural gas and hydrogen storage licence application for MESH. Following the positive endorsement of MESH by the Secretary of State as a development of national significance, we are hopeful of receiving a decision on this application soon.

“If successful with its application, EnergyPathways plans to progress a hydrogen storage and transportation project which will be integrated with its 90 MW methane pyrolysis hydrogen production facility being developed in conjunction with KBR and Hazer. The planned hydrogen storage will be able to supply the Company’s hydrogen-to-power system being developed with Siemens Energy.”

The company emphasizes that the new license application spans an area with potential for up to 60 storage salt caverns for natural gas and hydrogen storage, representing an almost fourfold increase in the area the firm is targeting for salt cavern development. The UK player intends to submit an application to the Secretary of State for a Development Consent Order (DCO) for other elements of the MESH project.

Clube noted: “The company also plans to develop natural gas storage to help shore up the UK’s security of energy supply. The UK has meagre existing gas storage capacity. The company considers this licence area, and the Irish Sea region more broadly, as having significant potential for large-scale economic development of natural gas storage.”

Envisioned as a new, large-scale, energy storage and decarbonization facility that is expected to provide a secure and dependable supply of affordable low-carbon energy for the UK market for over 25 years, the MESH integrated energy system solution comprises large-scale long duration energy storage (LDES), flexible low-carbon power capacity, and low-carbon hydrogen and graphite production with the potential to branch into low-carbon ammonia production.

This project will connect its LDES integrated storage system using existing infrastructure to the UK grid and nearby offshore wind capacity, helping to harness the value from what is seen as billions of pounds of the UK’s wasted wind power. The MESH system is designed to capture and store curtailed offshore wind power in offshore salt caverns as compressed air.

The development combines associated large-scale hydrogen, thermal, and natural gas storage capacity in geo-storage features, known as the salt caverns. During periods of low renewable energy availability, the LDES stored energy resources will be utilized to generate low-carbon flexible power for the UK’s grid via compressed air expansion, thermal energy, and hydrogen-compatible gas turbine systems to generate electricity.

The facility is also designed to produce affordable low-carbon hydrogen using methane pyrolysis technology for which EnergyPathways has exclusive rights of use within the UK. The company believes that hydrogen can be used to further decarbonize the MESH flexible power generation system, using its hydrogen-compatible gas turbine system. The by-product of the MESH hydrogen production facility is said to be a high-grade form of synthetic graphite. 

Aside from supplying dispatchable low-carbon electricity to the grid, MESH-produced hydrogen is expected to be able to support the UK’s emerging Project Union hydrogen network, contributing to broader emissions reductions across the energy system.

This storage project is anticipated to be operational by 2030, subject to government approvals and financing, to contribute to the government’s 2030 Clean Power ambitions, lending a helping hand in accelerating the UK’s energy transition story.

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