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Navigator Project
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
SHINE (Non-Electric Boiler)
Power outages are a regular occurrence in Great Britian with average annual customer minutes lost in Great Britain range between 31.57 minutes 51.4 minutes depending on the Distribution Network Operator License Area (Statista 2021). This is of course not evenly distributed with outages varying from a few minutes up to more than a week in more extreme circumstances. Similarly single outages can affect a single property or several thousand properties depending on the cause. This project will aim to develop a low-cost user-friendly solution whereby customers in vulnerable situations will still be able to use their gas heated boiler as well as LPG and oil heated boilers in the event of a power outage.
Hydrogen Ignition Risk from Static and Autoignition (HIRSA) Stage 2B – Static Generation experimentation
The key subject of HIRSA stage 2 projects is to understand if using hydrogen in the gas network will result in an increased likelihood of ignition from static discharge generated by particulates in flowing gas. Building on stage 2A stage 2B will provide further experimental testing aimed at determining the absolute difference in electrostatic charge generated identify whether any external factors impact one gas more than the other and to control the factors affecting generation of the charge. The outputs of this work should provide the industry with a better understanding of the potential change in ignition risk when switching from Natural Gas to hydrogen and will also highlight relevant mitigations to manage this risk.
Welding Residual Stress Measurements and Analysis for Gas Pipelines
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.
Hydrogen Rollout Assessment
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.
Asset Records Readiness for Hydrogen
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.
Assessing Energy Impacts via Thermal Analysis
The project aims to use a vehicle-mounted thermal camera and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect heat loss from homes on a city-wide scale. The data will be used to assess the condition of a property regarding its ability to retain heat and provide tailored recommendations addressing insulation problems. This critical first step allows for better targeting of necessary retrofits and offers a scientifically measured alternative or complementary approach to traditional EPC.
Commercial Vehicle Fleet – Development of Total Cost of Operation Model
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.
Augmented Reality Futures Close
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.
Probabilistic Fitness-for-Service Assessment of Hydrogen Pipeline Girth Welds
Repurposing of natural gas pipelines made of carbon steel for use with hydrogen blends requires a fitness-for-service analysis as part of the hydrogen use safety case. Girth welds of an unknown quality exist in the Local Transmission System (LTS). In hydrogen service these welds would have a greater susceptibility to fracture failure due to material embrittlement caused by interaction of steel material with hydrogen.
Current inspection methods do not routinely inspect girth welds for defects. Deterministic defect assessment models require the use of conservative assumptions for defect sizes material properties and loading. This can lead to overly pessimistic conclusions about the suitability of pipelines with girth welds for use with hydrogen.
More detailed probability-based assessments are required to reduce the inherent pessimism in deterministic calculation methods. This would provide confidence of the safety and allow for greater use of the LTS with hydrogen and contribute to a quicker and cheaper energy transition for the UK gas network.
Materials Qualification for Hydrogen Pipelines
Current IGEM standards for requirements of qualification testing of onshore pipelines do not contain guidance on specific tests for hydrogen. SGN has engaged PIE to develop a material qualification procedure for inclusion in standards for assets in hydrogen service
When completed the project will identify relevant criteria for fatigue and learning from this project can be applied to other operations to facilitate safe transition to 100% hydrogen
Wireless Methane Odorant Detector
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 1500ppb (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.
Alt Pipe
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.
The Potential of Biomethane to Accelerate the Decarbonisation of UK HGVs
The following is a proposed outline for a report on the decarbonisation benefits and potential of biomethane in the UK Road Haulage sector.
The report will position biomethane as:
- A complimentary technology to zero tailpipe emission vehicles that offers faster decarbonisation potential due to the near-term infrastructure scalability of the technology and the suitability for long distance and non-fixed route logistics.
- A cost-effective way to reduce Carbon emissions by over 84% over the next 15-20 years whilst zero tailpipe emission technologies are developed and the supporting infrastructure is deployed.
- An enabler to the transition to zero tailpipe emission vehicles by offering reduced carbon abatement costs that in turn can generate funds to invest in zero emissions infrastructure and vehicles.
It will serve as a reference document for discussions with industry stakeholders governments and regulators.
Finding the Hidden Vulnerable
This innovation project proposal is centred on trialling the development of a predictive model to identify customers in vulnerable situations whose heat comes from Cadent delivered gas that are missing out on the protections that the Priority Service Register (PSR) brings because they are “hidden” behind a non-domestic supply contract. The aim of the predictive model would be to aid Cadent to find these customers so that it can be ensured that they receive the support that they need in the event of an interruption to supply.
Digital Decommissioning of Large-Scale Equipment
As the Gas Transmission network responds to a changing energy system from drivers including the transition to net zero and to changes in supply and demand we are required to decommission our large site based assets in certain locations. Decommissioning is a multifaceted endeavour that goes beyond the conclusion of an asset’s lifespan and encompasses a complex deconstruction process. This project will implement an innovative AI tool to help National Gas manage decommissioning to drive benefits such as increasing the accuracy of cost estimation ways to reduce carbon emissions identify re-use potential and lower the overall time taken to decommission.
Understanding the value of remote detectors
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.
Demonstrating Downstream Procedures For Hydrogen
This project involves a comprehensive set of tasks aimed at implementing and validating a domestic safety system for hydrogen use including excess flow valves.
Futures Close Heat Programme (FC Heat)
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.
Decentralised System Resilience
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.