A long-term modification project for Homeworld2 that aims to "tell the story of HW1 in HW2" and simultaneously bring the game to a whole new level through a plethora of new content, graphical updates, overhauls of current systems and exclusive features.
This is a new feature for the Progenitors that was posted at the FX forums some time ago. Speculation about what it is and what purpose it has is still ongoing, but so far everything points in the direction it is some kind of 'power supply' feature.
The screenshot as well shows the in-game timer and custom U.I. for the Progenitors.