Future Energy Networks

Problem Digital exclusion remains a significant challenge across the UK, preventing many individuals—particularly those in vulnerable circumstances—from accessing critical information and services. As energy networks increasingly rely on digital channels for communication, those without internet access, digital skills, or confidence in using online tools face barriers in receiving important updates, such as emergency notifications and service disruptions. Current communication strategies, while effective for digitally engaged users, fail to reach those who are excluded due to economic, geographic, or personal barriers. This project seeks to bridge this gap by rethinking communication strategies to ensure all consumers, regardless of digital access, receive the information they need in a timely and accessible manner. Project Aims & Key Objectives Building upon the learnings from the previous Digital Exclusion project (NIA_CAD0088), this project aims to develop new, inclusive communication strategies that enhance engagement with digitally excluded individuals. The research project will determine what new approaches may be able to be adopted by energy networks to aid consumers who could otherwise be left vulnerable due to being digitally excluded. By adopting a human-centred approach, the project will:

• Understand how digitally excluded individuals currently access information and navigate daily life.
• Identify barriers in existing energy network communication strategies.
• Co-design and test new approaches that improve information delivery and engagement for those excluded from digital channels.
• Provide recommendations for scalable, long-term improvements in energy communication infrastructure. Project Outputs The project will deliver the following tangible outputs across the following stages:

Stage 0 – Outreach

• Identification of priority demographics which are most affected by digital exclusion.
• Engagement with several digital inclusion hubs to identify and introduce stakeholders to the project.

Project Plan – Rethinking Communication for Digital Exclusion

Stage 1 - Insight

• A comprehensive research report detailing the lived experiences of digitally excluded individuals.
• Analysis of existing communication strategies used by energy networks, highlighting gaps and opportunities.

Stage 2 - Collaboration

• A series of co-design workshops engaging key stakeholders to generate and refine potential solutions.
• Prototype solutions tested in real-world settings, with iterative refinement based on feedback.

Stage 3 - Impact

• A strategic roadmap for scaling successful solutions across the energy sector.
• A final report consolidating research insights, prototype evaluations, and recommended implementation strategies. Expected Benefits
• For digitally excluded consumers: More effective, trusted, and accessible communication methods ensuring they receive vital energy-related information.
• For energy networks: Improved customer engagement, compliance with accessibility standards, and enhanced reputation for supporting vulnerable groups.
• For wider stakeholders: Development of scalable best practices that can be applied beyond the energy sector to improve communication with digitally excluded populations. TRL
• Start TRL: 2 (Technology concept formulated)
• End TRL: 5 (Technology validated in a relevant environment)

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 study examined options for making progress on domestic heat decarbonisation, against an ongoing backdrop that most consumers in GB have not chosen to install heat pumps. The study finds that forcing consumers to do so is likely to increase costs for everyone and spark backlash against climate policy. The paper sets out the parameters for a more flexible pathway, which supports technologies, including hybrid heat pumps, based on emissions and cost savings. The core finding is that by allowing consumers to transition more gradually to newer technologies, this approach offers a lower-cost and more voter-friendly (and therefore deliverable) pathway to net zero.

Through consultation with the biomethane industry National Gas are looking to offer a cost effective, repeatable and simplified Minimum Connection arrangement at greenfield locations with low visual impact by locating the network isolation valves in a pit. Thus, avoiding a traditional larger Above Ground Installation with perimeter security fence and internal vehicle access and potential local authority planning permission.

The use of pits to house valves on National Gas AGI’s has historically created operational and maintenance issues, such as pipe pit wall transition corrosion, pit flooding and access restrictions.

However, through consultation with NG Chief Engineer a decision support paper was submitted and approved allowing the development of a valve pit arrangement to align with requests from the biomethane industry and address historic issues.

Following this decision, conceptual designs were completed for minimum connections at Oulton Airfield and Manby projects in 2024. These designs included a concept design of a MOC valve arrangement in a pit.

The Stopple technology is a flow stop tool essential for major projects and emergency works across the LTS and NTS gas network. Its capability was tested in 100% hydrogen within a helinite environment, in line with LTS Futures parameters as phase 1. This project focuses on validating flow-stopping technology as an additional deliverable with LTS Futures live hydrogen trial on the Granton to Grangemouth pipeline as a welded tee and hot-tapping operations is already being carried out. The trial will confirm the Stopple train’s effectiveness as a double-block and bleed solution for a 100% hydrogen system which will be available for the UK Gas Network. The findings will provide critical insights into the safe and efficient operation of the hydrogen networks supporting the transition from natural gas to hydrogen.

The Sustainable Vehicle Transport project assessed the feasibility of using biomethane-derived compressed natural gas (bio-CNG) as a lower-carbon transport fuel for operational vehicle fleets, while also considering the future potential for hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. The project examined viable locations for a pilot refuelling facility, reviewed available refuelling technologies and delivery models, assessed vehicle suitability, evaluated economic performance, and developed a roadmap for potential future deployment.

The study concluded that a bio-CNG trial is technically feasible and can provide substantial greenhouse gas emissions reductions, particularly in vehicle segments where electrification remains challenging due to range, payload, or onboard power requirements. The work also demonstrated that mature refuelling technologies and commercial delivery models already exist in the market, reducing technical implementation risk.

A key finding was that project viability is influenced less by technology readiness and more by practical considerations such as fuel demand, utilisation rates, planning requirements, land availability, and utility connections. The project therefore provided a structured evidence base to inform future investment decisions and potential progression to site-specific feasibility assessments and detailed business case development.

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.

This project will assess the current and future role of gas distribution networks (GDNs) in supporting dispatchable electricity generation within a decarbonising UK energy system. It will identify method(s) for GDN operators to obtain accurate gas usage data from existing generation connections and develop future scenarios to inform network planning and investment.

This project will conduct market research on available, or soon to be available hybrid products for discussion and presentation back to WWU and WW Housing to choose a preferred solution for the properties identified that are suitable to trial the equipment in. The project will provide networks with demand data and look to aggregate this over WW Housing stock to understand wider impact on gas networks, if this was considered a viable option to decarbonise housing stock.

This project will deliver independent, evidence‑based research on consumer behavioural insights relating to domestic heat sources during the energy system transition. It comprises four work packages (WP0–WP4) that build on one another to create tangible outputs for WWU and other Network Licensees: desk research and gap analysis (WP1), SME engagement and sentiment analysis (WP2), consumer research including a 4,000‑respondent survey, user‑journey mapping and CIVS insights (WP3), and integration of insights through decision trees, synthetic population modelling and cost‑benefit analysis (WP4).

This project constitutes a research study which will explore how nuclear energy can support a whole system energy transition by providing for the energy requirements of low-carbon hydrogen and heat networks within regions where renewable energy potential is relatively low. These are areas where hydrogen demand will need to be met by imports unless hydrogen production methods can be increased and diversified.

To ensure that the users and general public recognise and report hydrogen leaks without further education, current guidance states that the smell of hydrogen should be indistinguishable from that of natural gas. It is also expected that the same odorant will be used in hydrogen networks as is currently injected to natural gas and so it is essential to ensure that existing methodologies for olfactory assessment (Rhinology), originally developed for natural gas, are safe, effective, and applicable to 100% hydrogen environments.

As the hydrogen economy grows, the need for flexible, decentralised intermediate-scale hydrogen storage is becoming increasingly evident. While large-scale underground hydrogen storage in salt caverns and depleted gas fields will play a crucial role in long-term energy security, distributed intermediate scale storage solutions are essential to bridge the gap between production and end-use, ensuring reliability, efficiency, and resilience in hydrogen supply chains during the scale-up of the hydrogen economy. Decentralised storage facilities allow for hydrogen hubs to emerge in urban and industrial areas, reducing reliance on long-distance transport infrastructure and supporting regional hydrogen economies.

A key unknown is whether the land use and geology of Wales and South West England can support intermediate-scale underground hydrogen storage (UHS) technologies. This project aims to map and assess potential storage sites within the WWU region, aligning with broader energy infrastructure plans—including hydrogen and gas pipelines, electricity networks, industrial demand, and renewable energy integration.

To evaluate the feasibility of these storage solutions, the University of Edinburgh will analyse rock property and strength data from publicly accessible British Geological Survey (BGS) datasets, developing new insights into the engineering suitability of the region’s subsurface for hydrogen storage.

This project concerns the research into welding residual stress values and the effect that they have on the overall pipework repurposing assessment route described in relevant hydrogen standards. Currently, overly conservative values need to be applied for welding residual stresses in any repurposing assessment. This project aims to build evidence on actual and modelled residual stresses seen within the pipelines industries, with a focus on natural gas pipelines. As the welding residual stress is a critical aspect of the fracture mechanics assessment, any improvements which can be gained would have an overall positive impact on the assessment results.