Storage is needed for energy security and tackling the cost of net zero on bills

I write in response to “Build it in Britain: an open letter to clean energy developers and investors”, from the UK Energy Secretary, Business Secretary, Minister for Investment, National Wealth Fund, and Great British Energy. The letter invites private sector partners to come and invest in the UK’s energy transition.

There are many significant challenges ahead in reaching the nation’s net zero targets.

The Prime Minister has expressed the view that “energy security is national security”. The government has highlighted that more energy storage is crucial to meet its Clean Energy 2030 ambitions.

At EnergyPathways we believe our proposed MESH integrated energy storage project is an important piece in helping solve Britain’s net zero puzzle. It can play a vital role in the nation’s energy security and in reducing the burden of Net Zero costs on consumer energy bills.

© Supplied by EnergyPathways

Centrica has cautioned that Britain’s largest gas storage facility, Rough, could shut down soon, leaving the UK with only 6 days of stored gas supply. The UK’s gas storage capacity is already a mere fraction of that of most European countries. Rough’s closure threatens not just the UK’s energy security, but also government’s net zero plans, which rely heavily on a secure and reliable source of gas for its backup power, when wind is not available.

The recent blackouts that hit Spain, Portugal and France in April are a stark reminder of the fragility of building out a renewable-dominated grid which does not have adequate backup dispatchable power capacity to ensure a stable and reliable system.

© Supplied by Centrica

The UK is already wasting its abundant wind energy on a regular basis under subsidised Contracts for Difference arrangements with wind developers. Without mitigation the cost to consumers of this wasted wind, or “curtailments”, is expected to surge to at least £6bn by 2030.

The government’s plan to reach clean power by 2030 requires a huge spending programme averaging £40bn or more annually. Much of this investment is dependent on subsidies, and there is a risk that these costs could be passed on to consumers’ bills.

If the government’s Clean Energy 2030 ambitions are to be met, pragmatic, common-sense storage solutions like MESH are needed.

MESH, to be located off the Lancashire coast, is a large-scale integrated energy storage solution that combines proven gas, compressed air and hydrogen storage technologies. Its significant geo-storage potential offers a capital-efficient solution to help ensure Britain has a secure supply of low-carbon energy at affordable prices.

EnergyPathways’ MESH project offers a fit-for-purpose and cost-effective way of increasing the UK’s gas storage quickly to safeguard its future energy security. When completed, MESH will potentially become the UK’s largest gas storage facility with a capacity of up to 60 billion cubic feet (or 17 TWh) and will be comparable in size to the existing Rough facility. With a target development cost projected at under £200 million, it could be significantly more economical compared to the proposed £2bn Rough redevelopment, which requires government financial support to proceed.

© Supplied by EnergyPathways

With Britain expecting to import 80% of its gas demand by 2030, a resilient gas supply chain will be crucial to prop up our energy security. Establishing a source of gas from our own storage can safeguard Britain’s energy independence and help neutralise Britain’s direct exposure to the “rollercoaster of volatile international markets”.

MESH, when developed, will also be Europe’s largest Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) facility of up to 400MW. It will use large-scale salt caverns along with proven compressed air and hydrogen storage technologies to harness at scale the UK’s excess and increasingly wasted wind power.

The integrated nature of MESH’s energy storage facilities allows it to produce low-carbon, dispatchable power over multi-day periods to back up wind power. The cost of this low-carbon flexible power solution will be highly competitive in comparison to CCS-linked gas power, battery energy storage systems, and hydrogen-to-power solutions.

MESH’s significant geo-storage potential offers a real and practical solution to addressing both energy security and the affordability of net zero plans.

© Supplied by EnergyPathways

MESH can help cut the subsidy costs being passed on to consumer power bills by: reducing costs of excess wind and curtailments; reducing the need for expensive network upgrades; decreasing our reliance on costly standby gas-fired capacity; and limiting the buildout of high-cost separate decarbonised backup power.

With the project not requiring government subsidy to progress, private investors and leading British and international companies have expressed interest in supporting it. Besides making a material contribution to the country’s looming 2030 clean energy targets, the project is well-positioned to help reignite employment in the UK’s offshore sector and boost investor confidence in the UK’s energy transition.

With time running short to meet Clean Energy 2030 targets, we call on the government to speed up regulatory approvals so that private sector partners and investors can mobilise and advance critical projects like MESH to achieve its net zero ambitions.

Yours sincerely,

Ben Clube

CEO – EnergyPathways Limited