EnergyPathways has announced a partnership with Wood to advance its Marram Energy Storage Hub (MESH) project, a large-scale natural gas and hydrogen storage facility.
The MESH project, situated 17.7km off the Lancashire coast in the UK, is envisioned as a zero-emission facility, fully decarbonised and electrified, powered by wind farms in the UK Irish Sea region, the company said.
Its underground geo-storage capacity is projected to be close to 50 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas, matching the UK's largest gas storage facility, Rough.
Wood’s unit Wood Group UK is set to undertake concept engineering and pre-front end engineering and design (FEED) work, with the potential to guide the project through subsequent phases including engineering, construction and commissioning.
The collaboration will see the company providing expertise to EnergyPathways' technical team, focusing on both offshore and onshore facilities development.
Wood has also secured an exclusive period to propose terms for advancing into FEED, and potentially overseeing the engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning management (EPICm), and operations of the MESH storage facility post-commissioning.
Following the partnership agreement, EnergyPathways has initiated a drawdown from its loan with Global Green Asset Finance, allocating funds for the initial stages of the project.
A minimum of £100,000 ($127,474) has been drawn to support concept engineering and pre-FEED activities, with repayment anticipated by year-end.
The facility is designed to potentially convert the UK’s surplus wind energy into green hydrogen, further supporting the country's energy transition.
The final investment decision for the MESH project is set for the end of 2025.
EnergyPathways CEO Ben Clube said: "We are very pleased to enter into a strategic agreement with Wood for it to be our lead engineering partner for the MESH project. Wood will bring a wealth of energy transition engineering consultancy capability, coupled with strong project management skills to help us deliver our integrated energy infrastructure project.
“This marks another significant milestone for EnergyPathways as it continues to build its leading position in the UK's energy transition and making a meaningful contribution towards the UK's energy security, net-zero objectives and transitioning British jobs for the future."
Earlier this month, Wood entered into three major agreements with bp to deliver engineering and project management services for the oil and gas major’s global capital projects.
These agreements include a new master services agreement for engineering, procurement and construction management services.
