Future Energy Networks

This project will help WWU to understand considerations for 100% Hydrogen Rollout at a town scale, to inform future activity on preparation for repurposing. Areas will be chosen which are representative of different networks, housing stock and demographics, which will require different approaches and engagement.

Hydrogen Transition Pathways for Industrial Clusters (HTPIC) is a six-month, evidence led research and decision support project developed in response to the EIC’s call for innovation on the energy transition of industrial clusters. The project addresses the challenge of determining where, how and under what conditions hydrogen should play a role in decarbonising industrial clusters and surrounding communities, alongside credible alternative pathways.

Across the GB energy system, existing hydrogen programmes and studies are typically undertaken on a cluster-by-cluster or project-specific basis, using differing assumptions, scenarios and decision criteria. This makes it difficult for networks and policymakers to compare options consistently, understand system level trade-offs, or prioritise investment in a transparent and auditable way. The absence of a common decision framework increases the risk of misaligned investment, stranded assets and inconsistent outcomes across regions.

HTPIC aims to close this gap by providing NGN, Future Energy Networks (FEN) and Xoserve with a structured, repeatable decision framework that enables consistent, evidence-based comparison of hydrogen pathways across industrial clusters. The project integrates technical, economic, social and deliverability considerations within a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework, allowing complex evidence to be translated into clear and practical insights rather than standalone studies or narrative recommendations.

The project will be delivered in three stages:

• Stage 1 establishes a robust evidence baseline, including a comprehensive literature and evidence review, documented assumptions register and confirmation of scope and clusters.
• Stage 2 generates robust, comparable evidence across clusters through four analytical workstreams covering hydrogen supply and demand, gas coexistence and system configuration, conversion practicality and costs, and just-transition considerations, while developing and calibrating the MCDM framework with stakeholders.
• Stage 3 applies the agreed framework to undertake structured optioneering and scenario analysis, resulting in prioritised pathways, cluster-specific conversion playbooks and decision-ready outputs.

Key outputs include:

• a literature and evidence review with a transparent assumption register;
• a defensible options-rationalisation matrix and MCDM framework;
• a comprehensive report addressing the four research questions set out in the EIC brief, supported by an executive summary and cluster-specific annexes;
• cluster-level conversion playbooks translating analysis into practical, location-specific insights;
• pathway roadmaps to 2050; and
• a final dissemination pack to support knowledge sharing across NGN, FEN, Xoserve and Ofgem audiences .

HTPIC will support improved strategic planning for hydrogen and alternative decarbonisation pathways, reduce the risk of misaligned investment and stranded assets through structured prioritisation, and strengthen alignment between industrial cluster ambitions and network development plans. By providing a transparent and consistent decision framework, the project enables clearer sequencing of pathways, more robust comparison of hydrogen and alternative options, and improved confidence in future investment appraisal.

The project will also enhance understanding of affordability, workforce implications and wider community impacts, ensuring that pathway selection considers both technical feasibility and socio-economic factors. Through its systematic assessment of coexistence, conversion practicality and deliverability, HTPIC supports safer and more coordinated progression into downstream engineering and delivery programmes.

HTPIC will generate new system-level learning on hydrogen coexistence, conversion practicality and community impacts, presented through a structured, scenario-based and weighted decision framework that enables transparent comparison across industrial clusters. This learning will strengthen evidence-based decision making across networks and provide a clearer foundation for future programme development, regulatory engagement and investment planning.

Learning will be disseminated through the dissemination event, final report, executive summary and EIC knowledge-sharing channels, supporting wider GB network benefit.

The project commences at TRL 2, where the structured assessment methodology and decision framework are defined conceptually. Over the course of delivery, the framework will be applied across multiple industrial clusters, tested against real-world scenarios and stakeholder calibration, and analytically validated through structured optioneering.

By project close, the solution will have progressed to TRL 3, with the methodology demonstrated and validated in a decision-support context, delivering robust prioritisation and clearly articulated pathways.

The project does not include detailed engineering design, trials or implementation. Early-stage engineering, validation or delivery programmes across industrial clusters are already underway or in development through separate governance, funding and procurement routes. HTPIC is designed to strengthen and rationalise those activities by providing a structured evidence base and decision framework to support confident downstream investment and engineering decisions.

In order to support UK ambitions for hydrogen blending and the development of a hydrogen economy, National Gas will need to install new gas chromatographs with the capability to measure hydrogen up to 20% in a natural gas blend. At present hydrogen is not measured anywhere on the National Transmission System (NTS), and therefore there are no proven in-use devices, and limited experience within the company to allow effective decision making in deploying these assets in the move towards net zero.

In order to make informed decisions ahead of chromatograph fleet upgrade, and to allow for a wide selection of reliable device choices when it comes to that upgrade, National Gas require the testing of available devices to analyse their performance, and thus suitability for NTS installation. This project will employ a trusted testing house to obtain (through loaning) blend-ready chromatographs from suppliers, and then to rigorously examine the performance of those devices. These devices could be tested at the testing house’s site, or at the instrument vendor’s site.

IGEM have received requests from operators to update the hydrogen TD1 / TD13 supplements to take account of outputs from research projects. The project will review and assess the updates required based on findings from completed hydrogen research projects. This will support the repurposing of existing pipelines and installations from Natural Gas to hydrogen and Natural Gas/hydrogen blends, with input and support from users/stakeholders and formal approval by IGEM.

The project will also develop a methodology for fracture and fatigue assessments for existing Natural Gas pipelines to be repurposed to hydrogen service. This methodology will assess the impact of blends of hydrogen up to and including 100% hydrogen to determine whether pipeline derating and/or deblending is required. The requirements for the application of this specification should be included in the updates to the IGEM/TD/1 and IGEM/TD/13 hydrogen supplements.

Climate change-related events are increasing in frequency and consequence across Great Britain. Changing weather patterns are disrupting gas network assets, supply chains, and infrastructure, altering the risksandvulnerabilities on the network. This project aims to anticipate evolving weather trends impacting gas networks to ultimately reduce operational disruption and support SGN’s Climate Resilience Strategy.

The Innovation Highway phase 2 project will utilise AI and machine-learning to optimise the full innovation value chain. The platform will develop a minimum commercial product to help facilitate collaboration amongst networks, and other sectors such as water companies so they can innovate together. AI-empowered algorithms will simplify the identification, mapping, assessment and selection of problems and ideas, reducing manual processing time and enhancing effective decision making; this will support identifying and prioritising projects that will deliver the highest benefits. The platform will also help networks automate the development of cost benefit analysis.

As part of National Gas’s Three Molecule strategy, the technical evidence for the transportation of hydrogen and carbon dioxide through the National Transmission system is being gathered through the HyNTS and CO₂ programmes. This technical evidence will feed into the updates of NGT’s suite of policies and procedures which are used to demonstrate compliance with the Gas Safety (Management) Regulations (GSMR), Pipeline Safety Regulations (PSR) and Pressure System Safety Regulations (PSSR).

This project will develop the approaches to compliance with regulations for hydrogen, hydrogen blends and CO₂, considering both new build and repurposed assets. The project will also define how the NTS Safety Case of the future will look, including modular design and digitalisation to streamline access to information.

Existing defect assessments and repair methodologies designed for natural gas service are aligned with the T/PM/P/** and T/PM/P/** management procedures and are adopted to inspect, assess and repair pipelines for defects and take suitable measures to mitigate them. However, the scope and applicability of the assessment, inspection and repair techniques in the presence of high-pressure hydrogen remain uncertain. The key questions which form an outline of the project are:

1. What are the different types of defects, we may encounter or consider injurious in the presence of hydrogen?
2. What is the impact of hydrogen on each defect type? Have the mechanisms of failure changed for each defect type after hydrogen-natural gas blending?
3. Will the existing repair techniques be applicable under transmission of high-pressure hydrogen and hydrogen-natural gas blends?
4. Can we implement the defect assessment, inspection 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 assess the impact of hydrogen on the effectiveness of these inspection, assessment and mitigation technologies.

Knapton Hydrogen Storage for Hydrogen to Power Discovery phase will investigate options for medium and large-scale storage of hydrogen to enable Centrica’s H2P project at Knapton via energy asset re-purposing, the flexible use of hydrogen in the region for industrial decarbonisation, and infrastructure scale up opportunities to provide resilience for the proposed East Coast Hydrogen core H2 network in North Yorkshire.

Wales & West Utilities (WWU) is undertaking a major programme of change to support decarbonisation and deliver a Net Zero gas network. This project explores the potential conversion of LPG networks within WWU to biomethane as a pathway to decarbonisation. The initiative is driven by the challenge of replacing LPG in rural, off-grid communities where previous alternatives—such as hydrogen blending or full electrification—face significant technical, storage, and infrastructure constraints.