EnergyPathways enters strategic partnership with Wood Group

(Sharecast News) - EnergyPathways announced a strategic partnership with Wood Group UK on Monday, to act as the lead engineering partner for its Marram Energy Storage Hub (MESH) project in the UK Irish Sea. The AIM-traded firm said Wood would oversee concept engineering and pre-front end engineering and design (pre-FEED) activities, with plans to progress into the next phases, including full FEED and the engineering, procurement, installation, and commissioning management (EPICm) stages.

It described the collaboration with Wood as a significant milestone for EnergyPathways, with the concept and pre-FEED work for MESH targeted for completion by January, with a final investment decision (FID) expected by the end of next year.

Wood would also have an exclusive opportunity to extend its role to include the long-term operatorship and duty holdership of the facility once commissioned.

MESH is a large-scale energy storage project designed to deliver a reliable supply of natural gas and green hydrogen to the UK market for over two decades, the EnergyPathways board said.

Powered by renewable wind energy from the UK Irish Sea region, the zero-emission facility was aiming to play a pivotal role in supporting the UK's transition to a low-carbon economy and the development of its hydrogen sector.

To support its efforts, EnergyPathways said it had initiated a drawdown under its green loan agreement with Global Green Asset Finance (GGAF) to fund the concept engineering and pre-FEED work.

The drawdown, satisfying the minimum amount of £0.1m under the loan agreement, would be disbursed by the end of the year.

"We are very pleased to enter into a strategic agreement with Wood for it to be our lead engineering partner for the MESH project," said chief executive officer Ben Clube.

"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."

At 1303 GMT, shares in EnergyPathways were down 4.06% at 9.21p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.