Good Morning Team.
I’ve spent the past couple of days conducting a deep dive into Energy Pathways’ MESH project - but then a realisation dawned.
After my recent conversation with CEO Ben Clube, it’s clear that the technicals are already sound - others have gone through this in depth.
The money is there.
What’s needed is a signature.
So we need to go straight to the source. I’ve sent a copy of this letter directly to the man with the power of the pen - in the hopes common sense may prevail.
Petitioning the King of Net Zero
Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
Date: 5 June 2025
Subject: Immediate Government Support and Approval for the MESH Energy Infrastructure Project
Good Morning Ed,
I hope this letter finds you well. I imagine your time is precious, so will cut straight to the point.
The UK has the lowest gas storage in Europe, and Centrica is warning that Rough may soon close once again. The facility originally shut down in 2017 due to safety concerns and high maintenance costs, and while it partially reopened in 2022, Centrica is seeking a cap and floor agreement with the government to maintain this status quo.
The UK's gas storage facilities can currently hold enough gas for approximately 12 average days of consumption, or about 7.5 days during peak winter demand. In contrast, other European countries have significantly higher storage - Germany has 89 days, France 103 days and the Netherlands 123 days.
The UK is vulnerable.
We desperately need additional storage capacity - not only to bring us up to scratch with our European friends, but because we live in a world where the longstanding geopolitical consensus has been up-ended by both Putin and Trump.
One where our close neighbours, Spain and France, recently plunged into extended darkness.
The only way for your vision for the future of the UK’s energy mix to work is if we solve the gas storage problem.
The solution already exists, the homework has been done, and all that is needed is your signature on the right piece of paper.
I am urging your department to expedite formal approval and comprehensive support for the MESH energy infrastructure project, a UK-led, multi-technology clean energy platform that could well transform the country’s energy security, industrial competitiveness and long-term resilience.
MESH is a nationally significant infrastructure undertaking.
It’s also great for a photo op.
The project aligns directly with the government’s ambitions for clean energy leadership, energy independence, Net Zero and a modern industrial strategy — all of which were outlined in your recent joint letter alongside your colleagues in HM Treasury, the National Wealth Fund, Great British Energy and the Department for Business and Trade.
Let me outline, in clear terms, why MESH is not only essential but urgent, and why now is the moment for decisive action.
The MESH project is set to become the largest integrated clean energy infrastructure development in both the UK and Europe.
It spans three critical dimensions of the Net Zero future: green hydrogen production, long-duration energy storage, and natural gas storage:
Natural Gas Storage: MESH’s planned 600 million therms (20TWh) of gas storage would immediately make it the UK’s largest — eclipsing the Rough field’s 500 million therms — enhancing national energy security and buffering the volatility of global energy markets. Moreover, potential expansion through the integration of the Knox and Lowry assets could boost this to a staggering 1.8 billion therms (60TWh), establishing the UK as a continental leader in energy storage capacity.
Green Hydrogen (MESH H2): With a planned capacity of 2.8TWh and 640MW, MESH H2 would surpass Statera’s 500MW facility to become the UK’s largest green hydrogen project. This is pivotal for decarbonising hard-to-electrify sectors and enabling a future hydrogen economy.
Long Duration Energy Storage (MESH CAES): MESH’s compressed air energy storage facility is set to deliver 400MW of LDES capacity — more than four times the size of the current European leader, the 90MW StoreNor project in Denmark. This supports the resilience of a renewables-dominated grid and addresses the system balancing challenge that has already cost the UK dearly.
Gas is cleaner than oil, and much cleaner than coal - especially lignite coal - and with room to expand into green hydrogen, it’s hard to see how this project is anything less than a perfect fit for the UK’s energy transition.
For context, the MESH initiative is deeply compatible with the UK government’s stated goals under:
The Clean Energy Mission and the drive to deliver a decarbonised power system by 2030;
The UK’s statutory obligations under the Climate Change Act 2008 and Carbon Budgets;
The upcoming Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan and the broader Industrial Strategy;
And the call by you and your colleagues to “Build it in Britain” by strengthening domestic supply chains and energy resilience.
MESH will support all of these imperatives through high-value job creation, exportable low-carbon technologies, and foundational infrastructure that will also support local heavy industry, transport and data centres — all of which rely on secure, dispatchable clean energy.
And unlike many capital-intensive government-led initiatives, MESH is structured to deliver outsized public benefits without placing additional pressure on strained fiscal budgets:
Funding will be sourced through a combination of debt finance from a FTSE 100 company and equity investment from a cornerstone institutional investor at a significant premium to current valuations — representing a rare opportunity to catalyse public-private co-investment without state subsidy.
The projected commercial performance of MESH is sound, with the potential to generate hundreds of millions of pounds annually, transforming Energy Pathways (the project developer) into a critical UK industrial champion and delivering material returns to taxpayers, shareholders and communities alike.
MESH aligns seamlessly with the mission and remit of GBE and the National Wealth Fund, and should be seen as an early candidate for support under the £27.8 billion NWF capital deployment plan. A government-backed equity or debt position would have enormous crowd-in effects, lowering risk and unlocking further private capital.
This project is necessary.
Over the past six months, Britain has wasted over £502 million switching off wind turbines and paying gas plants to switch on.
This inefficiency is largely due to the current grid’s inability to absorb and store intermittent renewable output. The MESH CAES facility directly solves this: by enabling vast, dispatchable long-duration storage, it will reduce curtailment and ensure baseload power at critical times.
As your department plans to fast track an initial £300 million public investment in domestic offshore wind supply chains through Great British Energy, you simply must have the capacity to store the excess energy generated.
Otherwise, you may as well burn the money.
Grid reform, planning simplification and industrial policy changes are welcome — but infrastructure is key. We cannot allow planning and interdepartmental delays to hold back projects that directly address national energy waste and dependence on volatile imported gas.
As you are aware, EPP is actively engaged with several Tier 1 strategic partners, including:
A global oil & gas major with significant clean energy transition commitments;
A world-leading offshore wind developer;
A FTSE 250 engineering and technology firm (Wood Group);
And one of the largest wind farms globally, signalling strong industry confidence.
This coalition of commercial readiness provides rare momentum that must not be squandered. Private investment is ready now, but capital cannot be set aside forever.
I understand that Treasury constraints and fiscal rules — reinforced by recent cautionary statements from Chancellor Reeves — require difficult prioritisation. But MESH represents a generational infrastructure investment that pays for itself, strengthens the grid, boosts energy security, and positions the UK as a clean energy exporter. That is exactly what the new Industrial Strategy should champion.
As per your own letter, the UK needs to “crowd in private sector investment,” break down barriers, and “turbocharge growth.”
Approving MESH now would be a visible, tangible proof point of this whole-of-government ambition, and a clear signal to global investors that Britain backs bold, bankable clean energy infrastructure.
As a bottom line? The MESH platform will address market failures already costing the UK taxpayer hundreds of millions, unlock private capital, and deliver immediate and long-term value to the economy, energy system and British people.
I urge you, your colleagues across government, and the institutional leadership of GBE and the NWF to prioritise this project for full support, and to move swiftly in granting the necessary authorisations, potential co-investment commitments and recognition as a national infrastructure priority.
If you do not grant the project unconditional support soon, then it - or another like it - will be paid for wholly through taxpayer cash and not private capital.
And we will ALL pay for it.
Taxpayers on our bills, already the highest in the developed world, and politicians at the voting booth.
The public does not seem particularly convinced by current policy: levels of tax on North Sea oil and gas production, the ban on further exploration and exploitation, the refusal to simply give Rolls-Royce the go-ahead on Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, the £22 billon on carbon capture technology not yet proven to work…
But as the Labour government enjoys a large majority and the electoral mandate of the general public, you in your capacity as the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero are entitled to enact your plan as you see fit.
And here, there is a clear win which will be both popular with the people and help to deliver your vision.
Please note, I may publish your response, if any.
Yours sincerely,
Charles Archer
Yes, we ought to lobby our politicians for more British-owned, British-funded, British infrastructure approvals for the benefit of the UK
Very well written.