EnergyPathways and Hycamite to Advance Hydrogen and Graphite Production Plant in UK

(Hycamite) Development of a high-grade graphite and low-carbon hydrogen production plant in Barrow-in-Furness, UK; Both parties to assess the commercial viability of Hycamite’s proprietary and technically proven methane splitting and carbon processing technology to produce high grade graphite

EnergyPathways (EPP), the UK energy transition company, has signed an agreement with Finland’s Hycamite to evaluate Hycamite’s low-carbon hydrogen and graphite production technology for EPP’s planned hydrogen production plant.

EPP plans to develop a 20,000 tonne per annum hydrogen plant and a circa 60,000 tonne per annum graphite plant at ABP’s Port-of-Barrow in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, UK. The production plant will form a part of EPP’s MESH energy storage project in the East Irish Sea and at Barrow-in-Furness.

Both the UK Government and the European Commission have designated graphite as a critical mineral. It is a vital raw material used in the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries and fuel cells, as well as in aerospace and defence technology.

Accordingly, EPP will be making a grant application to the UK Government’s Critical Minerals Accelerator programme to support its graphite production plans. This UKRI-led funding programme, announced by the UK Department for Business, Innovation, Science & Trade in August 2026, aims to support the commercialisation of innovative solutions for critical minerals, spanning extraction, processing, sales and recycling.

“We are excited to be working with Hycamite to explore the use of their pioneering and proven technology within our MESH project. Domestic production of graphite offers huge benefits to the UK, in particular supporting the country’s industrial and defence capabilities, whilst being a sizeable and long-term investment into Barrow’s economy.”

Polaris Battery Labs, an independent, commercial U.S. research laboratory, has confirmed the high quality of the natural gas-based battery graphite developed by Hycamite.

“In addition to producing low-carbon hydrogen, our technology creates an opportunity to produce material with a significantly smaller carbon footprint than before, at a competitive price, and in locations where mined graphite is not currently processed. This is necessary for the sake of the climate, economic growth, and security.”

EnergyPathways’ work with Hycamite will run in parallel with its work with Associated British Ports, exploring land options for locating the methane splitting plant and the carbon processing operations within the Port of Barrow.

The MESH Long Duration Energy Storage project, designated as a project of national significance by the UK Government, combines compressed air energy storage with gas-to-hydrogen storage. It is set to become the UK’s largest LDES project at 300MW / 55 GWh / 100+ hours and aims to enter operation from hydrogen production perspective in 2029-2030, subject to government policy development, approvals and financing.

Critically, MESH offers multi-day storage capability in excess of 100+hours and so will be able to capture the UK’s fast-growing surplus wind power which is being generated and then wasted. Last year the cost to consumers of switching off wind farms and replacing this with gas power was £1.5 billion. By 2030, this is expected to increase to £8+ billion as wind surpluses mount. Other storage technologies, such as batteries, only store for a few hours and are not equipped to handle multi-day wind surplus and deficit events typical of UK weather.

MESH’s low-cost hydrogen production will further enhance the MESH capability to store and supply low-carbon dispatchable power for days to weeks and even seasons, significantly strengthening national energy security and the UK grid’s resilience and reliability while also reducing emissions.

By mitigating the huge waste in wind power, MESH will help lower electricity prices and reduce the UK’s reliance on gas-fired power for backup.

Hycamite is a Finnish cleantech company dedicated to decarbonizing industry. Using proprietary methane-splitting technology, Hycamite produces low-carbon hydrogen and solid, high-quality carbon products, including battery-grade graphite. All Hycamite products have an exceptionally low CO₂ footprint compared with conventional alternatives. Its scalable, energy-efficient technology helps industries decarbonize natural gas use while producing valuable carbon products for various applications, supporting resilient supply chains. READ MORE