EnergyPathways PLC (AIM:EPP) said Costain Group PLC (LSE:COST) has shortlisted potential sites for the onshore facilities of its MESH energy storage project in Barrow-in-Furness, moving the nationally significant scheme into a more detailed engineering phase.
The AIM-listed energy transition company said Costain had completed the first phase of engineering studies, assessing several possible locations before selecting sites for further evaluation and front-end engineering and design.
Costain is now progressing a second phase of detailed engineering work for the proposed onshore facilities.
MESH, designated a project of “national significance” by the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in September 2025, is planned as an integrated long-duration energy storage project in the east Irish Sea.
The scheme is intended to connect to Britain’s energy network through new and existing pipelines and transmission lines, combining compressed air, natural gas and hydrogen storage in offshore salt caverns and flexible medium-range gas field storage.
EnergyPathways said it aims to develop a sustainable industry park at Barrow-in-Furness that could include hydrogen and graphite production, clean ammonia production, an energy storage operations base, connection infrastructure and export facilities.
Chief executive Ben Clube said Costain had provided “a strong foundation of front-end engineering design” and identified “a number of quality sites” for the MESH onshore facilities.