Future Energy Networks

Wales & West Utilities has developed a Regional Decarbonisation Pathway to provide an overarching strategic plan for the network in Wales and the South West of England. To deliver that pathway, more detailed assessment and planning is required to facilitate the progression of opportunities in particular areas.

In 2023, WWU supported Cadent as the lead partner in the development and delivery of a Functional Blending Specification (FBS) which has progressed the technical understanding of how blending equipment can be practically applied within the context of existing gas network assets (https://smarter.energynetworks.org/projects/NIA_CAD0079/). In 2023, UK Government affirmed their support for network blending whilst networks have continued to develop evidence in support of blending since (Hydrogen blending in GB distribution networks: strategic decision - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).

Following completion of Phase 2 of the H21 Hydrogen Ready Components project, this project will look to extend the methodology developed under this project to encompass the assessment of assets operating above 7 barg. The assessment tool will be incorporated into the LTS Futures blueprint methodology for repurposing existing Natural Gas transmission assets to hydrogen. The scope will include transmission assets above 7 barg and up to the maximum transmission pressure of 94 barg and will focus on the conversion to 100% hydrogen. Assets in scope will cover both above and below ground assets, and include bends, valves, regulators, slam shuts, relief valves, and pig traps. Assets excluded include pipelines, compressors and cast iron components.

Augmented Reality (AR) technology will be used at Futures Close to convey and inform various audiences including vulnerable consumers about various property archetypes, their construction, heat loss, and the type of retrofit solutions (heating systems, controls, fabric improvements) available to improve the level of domestic energy efficiency. AR will be used to inform, educate and engage audiences on-site at Futures Close as well as off-site at conferences and meetings avoiding the need to facilitate multiple visits on site. Live data feeds will also be visualised, illustrating room-by-room temperature, humidity as well as other metrics providing an engaging, interactive and informative asset for Futures Close.

As the UK transitions to a low-carbon energy future, gas networks must consider how strategic utilisation of existing assets can be realised. GDNs must also consider adjacent markets such as CCUS and its role in the supply chain now and in the future. The project will take a pragmatic approach to provide SGN with an assessment of the role of the gas network in the growing UK CCUS market

Decarbonisation of UK transport, and the related Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate requires companies to transition their commercial vehicle fleets to Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) or alternative new emerging technologies (e.g. FCEC). As an operational utility network with responsibility for public safety WWU’s fleet undergoes a more challenging and varied range of duty cycles than most commercial fleets, includes vehicles that are required to provide on-site power, and must be capable of meeting WWU’s statutory duty to respond quickly to Public Reported Escapes.

Within this challenging operational context, WWU must deliver a fleet transition at the lowest feasible cost to assure value for money for our customers. This is further complicated by the need to plan the fleet transition while the associated technological and policy landscape continues to evolve in parallel. Although the learnings generated from the project will be specific to WWU’s fleet as a case study, they will be applicable to any networks with an operational fleet.

To assure a cost-effective transition and derisk future operations, WWU require a Total Cost of Operation (TCO) model. This will be specifically targeted at our particular operational context, capable of assessing the costs and capabilities of a range of ZEV options, and crucially must be easy for staff to adopt for internal use and update in the future as new data and/or technologies become available.

The purpose of this project is to provide WWU with a TCO model that addresses our specific operational requirements, ensuring that plans and investment decisions will be grounded in real-world technology assessments and our operational fleet data.

This project constitutes a research study investigating the opportunities for gas network infrastructure to support storage and balancing in a decentralised UK energy system. The research will consider how a decentralised system might look in the UK from now until 2030, and onto 2050. An evaluation will be made of how other countries are approaching decentralisation, identifying examples the UK could draw on. Consideration will be given to how grid balancing will be achieved across various scenarios of peak demand and particular geographic locations in the UK and what challenges and opportunities this presents to gas networks.

Wales & West Utilities is undertaking a major programme of change to support decarbonisation and deliver a Net Zero gas network. Decarbonisation of the vehicle fleet is an integral component of that programme.

WWU operates a fleet of nearly 1,400 commercial vehicles, the majority of these being vans up to 3.5 tonnes GVW. Our fleet – mostly diesel-fuelled - plays a crucial role in providing a safe and efficient service. In addition to our vehicle fleet, WWU operates ~ 900 items of mobile plant, including mini diggers and a wide range of trailers, many of which are specialised.

WWU vans carry a wide range of power-operated tools and equipment, some of this currently being powered by hydrocarbon fuels, some by electricity and some by compressed air. Approximately a third of our van fleet (~400 units) is equipped with ‘full on-board power’ – a compressor and generator, mounted under the van floor and mechanically driven by the diesel engine and operating as a source of on-site power.

This group of vehicles primarily supports below-ground network repair and replacement activity: it is a significant energy consumer, so to help us understand how we can make an operationally cost-effective transition to zero emissions, it is the on-site energy requirements of the tools and equipment powered by this group that Cenex will evaluate for this project. This evaluation will provide information which can take account of (and feed in to) a range of different scenarios for the fleet in the future, such as changes to the number and type of vans allocated to particular teams and projects.

Develop a flexible and adaptable toolset for the rapid analysis of Local Area Energy Plans (LAEPs). This will convert qualitative statements to quantified metrics and identify key network specific planning parameters.

The Fairer Warmth Hub (FWH) connects stakeholders of the Net Zero Transition through place-based strategies, providing tools and guidance to facilitate local energy plans and enhance collaboration. The FWH integrates digital tools and community engagement to facilitate effective communication and planning among diverse stakeholders, including households, small businesses, and local authorities. FWH is designed to bridge the gap in the energy transition by providing tailored support to these stakeholders, ensuring that the transition is inclusive and just. The FWH integrates three core elements:

• Trained ‘Champions’ – Volunteers or staff, known as Champions, are recruited and trained to support community engagement, helping to build trust and reduce miscommunication in local energy initiatives.
• Digital Tools (Virtual Assets) – Innovative digital tools (App + Website) and resources are used to facilitate energy transition planning and community engagement, particularly assisting Customer In Vulnerable Situation (CIVS) and those who are digitally excluded.
• Community Centres (Non-Virtual Assets) – Physical community hubs serve as accessible locations for hands-on support, providing a space for CIVS and other stakeholders to engage directly in the energy transition.

Gas networks supply embedded power stations that support the electricity network. These embedded generators can fire up without any warning to GDNs and is causing significant challenges to gas networks.

GDNs are required to submit hourly gas demand nominations to National Gas for each offtake point within specified time deadlines.

Embedded generators are small. They are not included in the UNC’s requirements to notify their GDN of intended offtake activity due to their size being below the threshold for NExAs (network exit agreements). Despite this, GDNs must include the demand from these embedded generators in their nominations to ensure there is sufficient gas within their network. This causes numerous challenges for SGN and other GDNs.

GDNs’ current forecasting process does not specifically forecast embedded gas generation, and current models do not take inputs from the electricity market. Embedded generators act in a variety of electricity markets, yet GDNs don’t have visibility of this demand.

It is anticipated that additional embedded generators will connect in the coming months/years as the demand for electricity increases.The challenge of not having knowledge of embedded generator’s demand and its potential to contribute to a storage shortage has been acknowledged by both EGRIT (Electricity and Gas Resilience Task Group) and NESO (National Energy System Operator). The benefits of creating a notification platform supported by a ML engine are various. Namely to develop an ML-enabled forecasting tool to predict gas demand from embedded generators with increased accuracy as delivery time approaches. In addition to create a notification platform to improve real-time visibility of embedded generator activities within the electricity and gas networks.

This NIA project aims to progress the FEmGE forecasting tool from TRL 1 to TRL 7, delivering a fully functional MVP. NGN will be funding this project to the value of £92,333 and SGN to £184,666 of the total of £276,999.

To reach our national net zero targets by 2050, we need to decarbonise approximately 25 million homes in England. Domestic heating accounts for approximately 14% of the UKs entire emissions and significant investment is required to improve the energy efficiency of our housing stock. In addition, there are major challenges associated with domestic decarbonisation:

• England has the most diverse housing stock in the UK. with 35% built before the end of WWII.
• Sixty-four percent are owner-occupied, and these homeowners need to have a good, cost effective and efficient experience of home and heating upgrade as we move towards zero carbon homes.
• Implementing heating upgrades to this ageing housing stock requires a ‘whole house’ approach therefore, consideration must be given to the building fabric and heating system.

Retrofitting existing homes with electric heating systems or deployment of green hydrogen boilers offer potential solutions however, the intricacies of deployment and installation are complex, further research and development is required to learn more about installation, performance of various heating options. Doing so will inform future domestic decarbonisation strategies.

This project will explore the feasibility of integrating hydrogen train refuelling infrastructure to support the development of a hydrogen rail network. This has particular relevance to our network as some of the UK’s hardest to electrify rail routes are situated in Wales and South West England. The project will focus on these hard to electrify routes, exploring H2’s potential role in enabling their decarbonisation. If successful, this project can help the WWU network to become a proving ground for real-world delivery of impactful H2 rail technology. It is expected to provide information which can be used in planning strategic hydrogen pipeline routes and network repurposing plans, and support regional energy planning.

This project is looking to address uncertainties surrounding LTS pipeline materials by investigating the effect of the oxide layer on hydrogen permeation rate for steel pipelines. This project will also investigate the formation of an oxide layer inside the pipe at different temperatures, as well as how the microstructure of the pipeline steel and condition of the oxide layer affect permeation for different grades of steel. It is critical this relation is better understood as these uncertainties are currently hindering our ability to fully and accurately assess the repurposing of the LTS. The outcomes of this project have the potential to increase cost-savings and improve confidence in the existing network to carry hydrogen, including blends.

Existing defect assessments and repair methodologies are aligned with the P/11, P/20 and PM/DAM1 management procedures and are adopted to inspect, assess and repair the pipelines for defects and take suitable measures to reduce them. However, the scope and applicability of these assessment and repair methodologies in the presence of gaseous phase carbon dioxide remain uncertain. The key challenges which the project aims to address are:

• Will existing repair techniques such as epoxy shell, welded shells, composite wraps, gouge dressing etc. be suitable for transmission of gaseous phase carbon dioxide?
• What are the different defects we may encounter or consider hazardous in the presence of carbon dioxide? What are the impacts of carbon dioxide on each defect type? And how much does water/corrosion exacerbate this?
• Have the mechanisms of failure for each defect type changed after introducing carbon dioxide?
• Can we implement the assessment and repair methodologies safely? Are the techniques safe and suitable for the pipeline operations and maintenance teams?

The project seeks to answer the above in addition to understanding the types and extent of repairs across the NTS and review the impact of carbon dioxide on the effectiveness of these inspection, assessment and mitigation technologies.

MASiP Phase 2 is a technical development project with identified go/no-go milestone as key factors as to whether further qualification testing should be completed. This necessity is due to the requirement to have a repair technique prior to any deployment for onshore pipelines. The project intends to deliver detailed methods statements created for the qualification testing plan require for product qualification. The most stringent testing parameters were defined from IGEM, ASME, API 15S in phase 1 to ensure that industry wide acceptance of this new approach would be received

Situation:

As National Grid ESO transitions to the NESO it will take on the role of Regional Energy Strategic Planners, which will bring a focus on the alignment of Local Area Energy Plans and distribution network planning.

Complication:

Current regional distribution network future energy scenarios are produced by electricity distribution networks. Gas distribution networks do not have an equivalent activity Accordingly, regional and local area energy planning in not informed by a balanced consideration of all energy vectors.

Solution:

An agile and easy to use Whole Energy Systems Pathway (WESP) tool, with detailed temporal and spatial investment planning capabilities, to enable a regional whole energy system planning capability which informs gas network planning, as well as inform national, regional and local planners, in an objective, evidence based. way

This project will update the Pathfinder tool, to improve functionality and reflect more current underlying data. Use of the tool developed in this project should result in better choices regarding investment in energy saving measures

This project will assess the application of Rising Pressure Reformer (RiPR) technology to produce a tuneable blend of biogenic methane and hydrogen, supporting the decarbonisation of gas networks. The project will focus on the how control of the gas produced would fit with requirements for network injection, and assessing locations for connection.

Significant efforts are required to support the transition of our energy systems moving away from carbon-intensive fuels such as coal, diesel, petrol and gas, towards cleaner sources of power generation such as wind, solar, nuclear and hydrogen. There is a potential for hydrogen to play a hugely significant role in our energy system, the extent of which will be driven by a range of factors, including the ability to transport it to where it is needed. There have been recent positive decisions for hydrogen’s potential uses in blending, transportation, domestic heating and industry. To produce sufficient hydrogen to meet this potential need, it will be important to increase and diversify hydrogen production methods.

As nuclear is a reliable and consistent source of clean energy that is unaffected by external factors such as the weather, Northern Gas Networks and Wales and West Utilities would like to investigate the possible use of nuclear power as a method of delivering the future increased demand in hydrogen production. This project will explore the opportunity for hydrogen production from nuclear to support a net zero transition across the gas network.

Benefits of nuclear-enabled hydrogen (NEH) in the context of gas distribution networks (GDNs) will be explored, building on the established benefits of nuclear energy production.

The overall project outcome is that NGN, WWU, and other stakeholders are sufficiently informed to determine whether further investment and integration of nuclear-enabled hydrogen to transition plans are justified, and how a potential first project could take its next step to deployment through securing technology licences, sites, off takers and financing.

This project will investigate the potential impacts of district heating on the gas network, whether its viable for the network to support district heating and what repurposing would be required.

The statistical ‘value’ (i.e. risk reduction and cost) of remote hydrogen detectors has been determined through statistical based projects as part of the hydrogen heating programme (HHP). The cost has been shown to outweigh the risk, however, given hydrogen is not a mature heating solution, the cost can be justified in response to risk appetite from key stakeholders, such as consumers. This risk appetite is assumed. There is currently no analysis (qualitative or quantitative) into consumers attitudes towards the ‘value’ of remote detectors. This project will begin to explore the perception of risk reduction from remote detectors to be used to compliment the statistical based analysis to paint a fuller picture towards the utilisation and crucially, the value, of remote detectors.

This project aims to improve natural gas leak detection for over 3.5 million people with acute smell disorders e.g. anosmia. Traditional methane sensors require high power, limiting placement. The legally required odorant (80% tert-butyl mercaptan and 20% dimethyl sulphide) will continue as the UK transitions to hydrogen or blends, necessitating re-calibration of detectors.

Our solution is an odorant-based gas detector using a custom ultra-low power electrochemical sensor to measure TBM. These sensors operate for over 10 years on a sealed lithium-ion battery, detecting TBM from 20-30ppb (below our smell threshold) up to 1,500ppb (20% of the Lower Explosion Level), ensuring early warning of gas leaks.

With no natural sources of TBM, false positives are eliminated. The Sensor is ‘hydrogen ready,’ maintaining consistent odorant levels during the transition to hydrogen or blends, accurately notifying of gas leakage without reconfiguration.