Jacobs appointed as strategic engineering and regulatory partner for EnergyPathways' MESH Long Duration Energy Storage project ('MESH')
AIM-listed EnergyPathways, the energy transition company, has selected Jacobs to provide planning, regulatory, consenting and environmental services for its proposed LDES project in the Irish Sea and Barrow-in-Furness. This includes assisting the Company in its submission to Ofgem's forthcoming Long Duration Energy Storage Cap and Floor round.
MESH, designated as a project of national significance by the UK Government, is positioned to become the UK's largest long-duration energy storage ('LDES') project at 300MW / 55 GWh / 100+hours duration. EnergyPathways' bespoke design is expected to provide substantial 'total system benefits' to the UK's electricity grid.
Key highlights of the MESH LDES project:
- Storage capability of several days versus only a handful of hours with batteries, enables it to store the increasing amounts of surplus UK wind power and reduce curtailment costs,
- Lowering consumer power bills by providing lower run marginal cost dispatchable power vs traditional gas-fired power generation which often sets the price of the UK's electricity,
- One of the lowest CAPEX per MWh of storage capacity providing significant value for taxpayer money versus other storage technologies, and
- Strengthens grid resilience with synchronous inertia supply, fast response balancing power and reserve capacity to shore up national energy security.
Jacobs will provide strategic planning, consent support and leadership to key regulatory and planning activities to advance project approvals. This includes assisting the Company in Ofgem's forthcoming Cap and Floor round, a mechanism for providing approved LDES projects with a revenue floor sovereign guarantee enabling both private debt and equity investment in project development. Following the Company's submission to Ofgem, the next key milestone will be formal confirmation of MESH's eligibility in the Cap and Floor scheme.
Jacobs' work will include developing a stakeholder engagement plan covering local council and regional government and a grid connection application, as well as other workstreams required for the Cap and Floor round and for a government Development Consent Order (DCO) submission which will run in parallel. Jacobs will be engaged in work scopes including, but not limited to, statutory stakeholder engagement, socio-economic and regional employment and supply chain assessments to help inform project planning and community consideration.
Further announcements on Ofgem's Cap and Floor scheme will be made as soon as the next round has been declared open and the Company has made its formal submission.
Ben Clube, CEO of EnergyPathways, said: 'We are delighted that Jacobs will be joining the MESH project team and working alongside our Tier-1 partner group. Jacobs' extensive experience in other nationally significant government-led infrastructure and energy projects within the UK and their direct experience in delivering complex engineering projects in the Northwest of England will be invaluable as we take MESH forward.
'The planning and regulatory process that Jacobs will oversee will feed into our key submission under Ofgem's Cap and Floor scheme, which in turn, will underpin the Final Investment Decision of MESH. Successful eligibility in the Cap and Floor scheme offers a sovereign revenue guarantee that will significantly de-risk MESH and make it a highly bankable infrastructure asset for both debt and equity 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. MESH represents an important infrastructure development for Barrow-in-Furness and the wider UK energy system. Our extensive experience delivering complex infrastructure projects through the Development Consent Order process will support EnergyPathways in navigating planning and regulatory requirements while maintaining project momentum.'
Source: EnergyPathways
