I’m Ben Clube, CEO and Co-founder of EnergyPathways, speaking from the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

The UK Government has designated our MESH energy storage project as being nationally significant, and it recognises the important role MESH can play in delivering a clean energy system for the country.

The Government has now strongly encouraged EnergyPathways to accelerate the project in support of its energy transition objectives.

MESH will support the UK’s renewable energy future in 3 ways:

Firstly…. lowering energy costs by storing surplus wind power and releasing it when Britain needs it most,

Secondly…. providing system flexibility for grid stability across all timescales to help keep the lights on,

and finally…. supplying low-carbon power to reduce Britain’s reliance on gas.

All of this will be achieved by a project “Made in Britain”.

MESH will harness British jobs, skills, and supply chains….mostly from the North Sea sector and here in the North-West.

So now is the time to advance MESH and deliver a project that the country needs.

Our decision today to raise capital is a direct response to the growing level of government support and the momentum that is now behind MESH.

The capital we will raise will be with investors from AIM, the London Stock Exchange market for high-growth venture-stage companies.

These funds will be used to accelerate our work programmes and bridge to the next important phase of bringing in strategic partners, large scale institutional investors and government backed financing.

We are pursuing several routes:

•       Innovate UK grant funding for Ultra-Long Duration Energy Storage (or LDES),

•       Critical Minerals Accelerator grant from Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST),

•       Ofgem’s LDES Cap & Floor scheme that provides a sovereign revenue guarantee,

•       Funding structures involving DESNZ, Great British Energy and the National Wealth Fund,

•       And finally advancing the expressions of interest we have received from global banks, financial institutions and industrials.

At EnergyPathways, we are aligned with the government and recognise the urgency for MESH.

It needs to be ready to help tackle the fast-approaching significant challenges faced by the UK energy system – rising energy bills, mounting wind surpluses and increasing gas import dependency.

EnergyPathways and MESH are now entering into a new phase.

We are transitioning from a small-cap developer towards delivering a major strategic infrastructure project – MESH is set to be Britain’s largest Long Duration Energy Storage project by some stretch.

We welcome the support of our existing and new shareholders in participating in that journey with us.

Our objective is simple: accelerate MESH towards operation to deliver lower energy bills and strengthen national energy security.

The sooner we deliver, the sooner MESH can create value for the UK economy, reduce energy costs for consumers and deliver value for our shareholders.

Thank you.