EnergyPathways has appointed Jacobs to lead the Development Consent Order process for its Marram Energy Storage Hub. The project centres on a 300MW long-duration energy storage facility using offshore salt caverns to store surplus wind power.

The Marram Energy Storage Hub, an integrated offshore and onshore energy project in the East Irish Sea and Barrow-in-Furness, was designated a project of national significance by the UK government in September 2025. This compresses the planning, licensing and permitting process into an 18 to 24 month timeframe, with the Secretary of State authorised to grant the Development Consent Order.

At the centre of the project is a planned 300MW, 55GWh compressed air energy storage facility, using offshore salt caverns off the Lancashire coast to provide more than 100 hours of storage duration. EnergyPathways expects the facility to deliver electricity at costs below gas-fired generation and competing storage technologies, with capital expenditure per unit below battery and pumped hydro alternatives.

The hub also includes plans for strategic natural gas and hydrogen storage with capacity of approximately 1.3 billion cubic metres, equivalent to as much as six days of UK gas demand and potentially doubling the country's gas storage capacity. A further component involves methane pyrolysis technology to produce hydrogen, ammonia and graphite, intended to supply defence, automotive and energy-transition industries domestically.

Richard Sanderson, Executive Vice President at Jacobs, said: "MESH represents an important infrastructure development for Barrow-in-Furness and the wider U.K. energy system." Sanderson added: "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."

Jacobs will lead planning and Development Consent Order strategy, environmental planning, technical coordination and stakeholder engagement, alongside supporting EnergyPathways' grid connection process and its Ofgem Cap and Floor submission. Jacobs has previously supported major UK infrastructure consents, including as integration partner on the Lower Thames Crossing and programme manager on the Thames Tideway Tunnel.

The structural driver is the UK's growing requirement for long-duration energy storage capable of absorbing surplus offshore wind generation and strengthening gas storage resilience. EnergyPathways is targeting operational status for the project by 2031, subject to consents and financing.

For the sector, the appointment of Jacobs follows completion of pre-FEED engineering work on the long-duration storage element, with EnergyPathways now in discussions with banks, institutional investors and potential strategic partners on financing and capacity offtake arrangements.

Source: uk.finance.yahoo.com / energy-pedia.com