Future Energy Networks

Our project tackles a key barrier to expanding the UK’s net zero gas and power networks: how to engage the public inclusively, effectively, at scale, reducing opposition and construction delays. Traditional methods are too slow and resource-intensive. In this phase, we will identify consumer needs and explore novel AI-driven engagement solutions, such as multilingual chatbots, gamified education, and sentiment analysis. Based on these insights, we will define a roadmap for adopting or developing AI solutions, in case unavailable off-the-shelf, tailored to strategic, large-scale engagement. In partnership with communities we aim to build trust, transparency, and public support for future infrastructure.

This project constitutes a research study assessing the future demand for hydrogen across SGN regions and the role SGN infrastructure could play in facilitating access to hydrogen.

As the UK transitions to a low-carbon energy future, gas networks must consider how strategic utilisation of existing assets can be realised. Using SGN’s extensive gas network to carry hydrogen instead of natural gas would be a major step towards decarbonisation. This repurposing necessitates an understanding of both the technical feasibility of repurposing pipelines to carry hydrogen, and future hydrogen demand requirements.

This project will help to inform UK Gas Distribution Network Operators (GDNOs) and wider industry on the impact of the potential for air ingress into gas-conveying pipework in MOBs. The mechanisms for air ingress into gas-conveying pipework have been shown to be gas agnostic, though this project will focus on impacts specific to future hydrogen distribution to MOBs.

As the owner of the National Transmission System (NTS), National Gas is committed to responsibly managing our redundant assets in a manner that contributes to a sustainable, lower-carbon future by decommissioning them responsibly, refurbishing for re-use where viable, and/or or changing their purpose where possible. This discovery project will identify decommissioned elements of redundant pipework on the transmission system which are unlikely to be used for refurbishment or part of any wider repurposing of the core network, and explore the potential of repurposing these for alternative uses including the storage and/or transmission of electrical energy, heat, fuels, water and data.

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.

The project will evaluate and deliver a plan that ensures our asset records are suitably complete to support the net zero transition.

The project will reduce uncertainty and risk and provide a more realistic proximation of asset data.

The HSE has indicated that it will be unable to support a network’s hydrogen safety case until they receive “a clear plan for checking unknown assets and how networks will ensure that only suitable materials are present in the network”. This includes our transmission pipelines.

Additionally, for the marginal extra effort, it would be prudent to ensure the completeness of our asset records is sufficient for us to either plan for the conversion to hydrogen or decommission sections as users switch to other heating technologies.

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.

This study will assess the current scale and maturity of Bio-LNG production across GB and Europe to understand the market’s readiness for wider deployment. This includes identifying the economic, technical and regulatory barriers that could limit progress, and evaluating where suitable biomethane is available for liquefaction along with cost benefit analysis.

SGN operate four remote mainland Statutory Independent Undertakings supplied by tankered LNG from the Isle of Grain. The role of Bio-LNG in supporting network resilience and influencing decarbonisation pathways will be examined. Finally, the economic viability of different operating models to determine the most effective route for future Bio-LNG development. Ultimately, this study will inform a strategic decision on SIU decarbonisation options and inform potential for future Bio-LNG ‘islands’ across GB networks as a means of decarbonising.

This project constitutes a focused feasibility assessment of local biomethane market models, with the objective of determining how decentralised commercial arrangements can enable increased participation from small-scale and community anaerobic digestion (AD) producers. The study will examine commercial structures, regulatory considerations and stakeholder readiness associated with enabling localised trading of green gas through existing distribution networks. It will assess the interaction between market design, connection approaches and consumer engagement to identify viable pathways for implementation and scale-up.

To achieve decarbonisation targets all gas network operators in the UK need to demonstrate that the gas network can safely, technically and economically facilitate the distribution of low-carbon gases (biomethane and hydrogen). In response to this challenge, SGN aim to review the feasibility of the formation of biomethane islands in their Scotland area of operation. The outputs of this project will establish a business model for the optimisation of biomethane injection and formation of biomethane islands across the UK’s gas network. A feasibility study will address key areas including regulatory, technical, environmental, social, and commercial aspects as well as comprehensively assess the viability of developing Biomethane Islands. The outcome of the feasibility study will be to inform decision-making regarding project implementation. This will be captured and delivered in a comprehensive report and financial model of the business case. These islands will serve as models for sustainable living, demonstrating the feasibility and benefits of a circular economy approach to energy production and waste management and offer a low disruption option for the decarbonisation of all classes of gas consumers - Industrial, Commercial, and Domestic.

The conversion of the National Transmission System into a hydrogen transmission network has been widely discussed, and it is recognised that blending of hydrogen and natural gas in the network is an important intermediary step towards that goal. It is therefore important to understand how the NTS will operate with a mix of natural gas and variable blends up to 20% hydrogen.

The Blending Management Approach (BMA) Phase 2 project will explore the operational, safety, and strategic implications of introducing low-level hydrogen blends into the National Transmission System (NTS), with a particular focus on storage interactions, emergency response scenarios, and long-term network management strategies. This phase aims to deepen understanding of how hydrogen blends interact with existing infrastructure and protocols.

CO₂ utilisation in the UK remains technically and commercially uncertain. Dispersed emitters and biogenic sources are largely excluded from industrial CCUS clusters, leaving a gap in scalable, cost-effective carbon management solutions. This project will conduct a Desktop feasibility study covering SGN’s operational regions and local emitters within ~30 mile radius of candidate biomethane sites.

1. Stakeholder and vendor engagement with technology providers
2. Technical and economic modelling of capture and utilisation systems, including mass and energy balances, CAPEX/OPEX estimates, and sensitivity analysis on CO₂ and hydrogen pricing.
3. Local market assessment to identify potential CO₂ emitters and offtakes within 30 miles of candidate biomethane or EfW sites.

Development roadmap defining next steps, funding opportunities, and conditions required to progress to demonstration phase.

The project described covers the development of a new repurposing process for NTS assets to transport gaseous phase carbon dioxide. The approach for repurposing the National Gas Transmission System (NTS) to transport carbon dioxide will need an innovative approach to meet the timelines for the net zero transition. There have been several projects undertaken to date to determine the interactions of carbon dioxide with the network assets. We are looking to determine if these activities are providing all the relevant data and evidence required for our network to transition.

The UK Government has identified Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) as a critical enabler of industrial decarbonisation, committing £20 billion to early deployment and targeting 20-30 MtCO₂ stored annually by 2030. Much of the UK’s industrial emissions are geographically concentrated, opening the door to targeted CCUS clusters that can deliver outsized impact. GDNs are well positioned to play a meaningful role in this emerging ecosystem.

In Carbon Networks Phase 1, Blunomy assessed the strategic fit between CCUS and the GDN business model. The study identified a range of potential roles, including local CO₂ collection, participation in transport and storage networks, and support for blue hydrogen and CO₂ utilisation initiatives – and it highlighted the importance of early positioning to shape regulatory and commercial pathways.

Phase 2 aims to build on this foundation and move from conceptual framing to actionable insight. Blunomy in the next stage will explore specific industrial opportunities within SGN’s and WWU’s footprint, engage with project developers and clusters, and outline potential pilot activities. Alongside this, the work will assess how CCUS participation aligns with SGN’s broader priorities, and the implications for regulatory engagement and investment planning.

Clean Power 2030 (CP2030) aims for a fully decarbonised electricity system, using unabated gas, only as backup. This introduces an important challenge: how can the gas transmission network remain viable and deliver flexibility during extreme demand events, despite not being utilised most of the time? This project aims to understand how to sustain the gas network technically and economically in a low average, high peak demand future, focusing on the interaction between gas and electricity systems.

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.

National Gas Transmission (NGT) are committed to reducing emissions from the operation of the National Transmission System (NTS) and eliminating emissions by 2050. The transition to hydrogen provides an opportunity to reduce carbon and utilise the network for hydrogen refuelling for transport. The HyNTS Deblending for Hydrogen Transport project has involved the development of a UK-wide rollout strategy from ERM that lays out demand, clustering and potential locations for deblending supplied refuelling for transportation mapped against the NTS.

The project will aims to obtain further information on NRMM, maritime, cars, LGVs and mobile power to fully understand the hydrogen demand. It will also review the existing rollout strategy to ensure it is accurate and full captures the current hydrogen market given the changes in this landscape

Early cluster projects will not benefit I&C customers that are located away from industrial clusters and are traditionally more distributed in nature. These customers are unlikely to have access to hydrogen infrastructure developed through the primary industrial clusters. This presents the need for an alternative solution.

This project will explore the concept of how a larger number of low-volume hydrogen producers can support I&C customers in the absence of natural ‘clustering’ and high-volume production by using the South West region of WWU’s network as a case study. This will be done by exploring the whole systems concept of a gas network which is driven by distributed green hydrogen production at strategic locations where there is access to both gas and electricity grid infrastructure.

This project constitutes a research study investigating the opportunities for gas network infrastructure to provide resilience solutions.

Organisations are becoming more reliant on electricity just as the grid decentralises, driving a growing need for stronger resilience against power outages. High profile outages such as those seen around Heathrow Airport and across Spain and Portugal in 2025 have brought the need for additional resilience solutions sharply into focus.

By engaging end users, DNOs, and other stakeholders, this programme will quantify the UK’s resilience challenge, build the evidence base, and determine whether there are opportunities for gas to play an additional role in providing resilience.

This project involves a comprehensive set of tasks aimed at implementing and validating a domestic safety system for hydrogen use, including excess flow valves.

Hydrogen design codes require fracture mechanics based design and qualification for high stress service. Procurement of a number of Long Lead Items (LLI) is required to construct, commission and operate hydrogen networks. A number of these LLIs, including induction bends and barred tees, remain at a low technical readiness.

This project will carry out fracture toughness testing in a hydrogen environment to increase the technical readiness, support the supply chain and achieve operational schedules.

This project constitutes a UK-wide strategic assessment of digestate production arising from projected biomethane growth, including quantification of volumes in 2030, 2040 and 2050 and analysis of nutrient composition (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium). Sustainable land-spreading capacity will be evaluated under current regulatory constraints, with regional nutrient imbalances mapped. Export potential and post-processing technologies will be assessed to determine infrastructure needs and optimal management pathways. Findings will inform how digestate management can best support sustainable biomethane growth.

Digital exclusion remains a significant and persistent challenge across the UK, with approximately 10 million people unable to access online services due to a lack of internet connectivity, digital skills, or confidence. In rural and remote communities this challenge is compounded by poor infrastructure and geographic isolation. For households already identified as vulnerable the inability to receive timely communications from energy networks can have serious consequences.

Energy networks currently rely on a standard set of channels to communicate critical information such as planned outages, safety alerts, and emergency notifications. Letters go unread, door-knocking is costly and slow, SMS messages are widely distrusted, and digital channels by definition exclude the very households that need the most support. No single channel reliably reaches digitally excluded consumers at speed. This gap represents both a safeguarding risk for customers and a significant compliance and reputational challenge for networks operating under Ofgem’s consumer vulnerability obligations.

This project proposes a fundamentally new approach: the Message Beacon is a low-cost, physical, internet-free device distributed to households to alert customers that an important energy network message is available to be read. The notification signal is received via Bluetooth or NFC from a nearby mobile asset (such as a van, field engineer, or bin lorry), and is represented on the Message Beacon using a flashing LED. The customer taps the Message Beacon with an NFC-enabled smart device to display the energy network message. No internet connection is required in the home and no digital literacy is assumed. The Message Beacon brings the message to the person, rather than expecting the person to come to the channel.

This project aims to design and validate the Message Beacon concept establishing the foundational design, user research, and hardware groundwork that will enable a full real-world pilot in Phase 2.

Phase 1 will deliver four discrete, tangible outputs each meaningful in its own right, and each a direct input into the Phase 2 build:

• Front-of-House Initial Design: User journey maps covering how different household types will encounter and use the Beacon; initial design of the physical form factor, LED notification, NFC tap-to-read interaction, and message display; first-round prototype tested with participants; all design decisions documented with rationale grounded in user research.
• Back-of-House Initial Design: Research with network comms teams on message types, triggers, and operational workflow; user journey maps for network staff; initial interface designs for message creation, household management, and read-receipt reporting; analytics framework for Phase 2 evaluation.
• Technical End-to-End Flow: Full system architecture from message creation through transmission to NFC tap and display in the home; hardware and software brief with security model; assessment of NFC, BLE, and battery architecture; basis for the Phase 2 development brief.
• Prototype Plan and Experimental Builds: Hardware technical diagrams; sourced components; initial experimental Beacon devices demonstrating the core NFC, BLE, and LED interaction; manufacturing and cost assessment for Phase 2 production run of 30–50 units.

Technology Readiness Level (TRL)

• Start TRL: 2 (Technology concept formulated)The Message Beacon has been identified through prior research as the strongest candidate solution, but exists only as a concept. No integrated system design, user-tested interface, or functioning hardware has been produced.
• End TRL: 4 (Technology validated in laboratory environment)By the end of Phase 1, the core system architecture will have been designed and validated, experimental Beacon hardware will have been built and tested, and both the front-of-house and back-of-house interfaces will have been prototyped and tested with real users in controlled settings.

UK’s Net Zero Emissions Target and the Role of Hydrogen: The UK has committed to a legally binding net zero emissions target by 2050. Achieving this target necessitates the integration of hydrogen, particularly in hard-to-decarbonize industrial applications and peaking power generation. The recent publication of the Climate Change Committee’s Seventh Carbon Budget highlights hydrogen’s significant role within the electricity supply sector. Hydrogen is identified as a crucial source of long-term storable energy that can be dispatched as needed and as a feedstock for synthetic fuels. For hydrogen to fully contribute to a future hydrogen system, its production, storage, and transportation must be considered collectively.

East Coast Hydrogen (ECH) Project: In recent years, Cadent, in partnership with National Gas and Northern Gas Networks (NGN), has developed the East Coast Hydrogen (ECH) Project. The ECH project aims to decarbonize primarily industry and power sectors. As part of this initiative, Cadent has developed the East Midlands Hydrogen Pipeline (EMHP), which aims to connect hydrogen production at Uniper’s Ratcliffe on Soar site to major industrial and power off-takers in the East Midlands. The project seeks to transport hydrogen to major population centres, including Nottingham, Leicester, Melton Mowbray, Derby, and Burton upon Trent. During the development of the EMHP, it became evident that hydrogen storage plays a critical role in establishing a resilient and efficient hydrogen system. Consequently, a consortium was formed to explore the feasibility of storage, leading to the East Midlands Storage Project (EMSTOR).

Discovery Phase of EMSTOR: During the Discovery Phase, EMSTOR evaluated various technologies for large-scale hydrogen storage in the East Midlands. The technologies considered included lined rock caverns, lined rock shafts, silos, and geological storage options such as aquifers and disused hydrocarbon fields. After comparing these technologies against several technical parameters, including Technology Readiness Level (TRL), cost, size, and location relative to pipelines, it was determined that hydrogen storage in geological fields, particularly disused hydrocarbon fields, is the most viable option. Therefore, disused hydrocarbon fields in geological formations were selected for further consideration in the Alpha Phase.

Alpha Phase Consortium: To execute the Alpha Phase, a consortium led by Cadent and including Star Energy Ltd, Centrica Energy Storage, National Grid, British Geological Society, University of Edinburgh, and Uniper was established. This consortium will focus on advancing the feasibility and implementation of hydrogen storage in disused hydrocarbon fields.