Future Energy Networks

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.