Northern Gas Networks (NGN), the gas distributor for the North of England, has been awarded £300k innovation funding for two feasibility studies exploring how a future gas network would support delivery of net zero to the UK.

The projects are funded by energy network users and consumers through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), an Ofgem programme managed in partnership with Innovate UK.

The fund’s purpose is to support network innovation that will contribute rapidly to achieving Net Zero at lowest cost, deliver real net benefits to networks, energy users and consumers and help the UK become a ‘Silicon Valley’ of energy.

NGN will use the funding for two project ‘discovery’ phases, an initial research step essential to understanding the potential outcomes, challenges and resources required for further development.

PATCH (Production And Long-Term Containment of Hydrides) is examining the feasibility of alternative hydrogen storage mediums.

Working in partnership with Teesside University and Frazer-Nash Consultancy, it seeks to understand the market for using chemical hydrides (a chemical compound containing hydrogen) as a storage vector for hydrogen and coupling their production to industrial hubs, reducing energy requirements and distributing storage throughout the UK.

Meantime, the Regional Energy Strategic Modelling project (RESM) is a whole systems modelling study exploring how all gas, water and power networks can work better together through strategic planning to support regional decision-making for low carbon infrastructure, and support constraint management of the electricity system.

It’s being delivered with Durham University, DNV, Northumbrian Water and Northern Powergrid.

Nick Smith, Innovation Manager for Northern Gas Networks, said: “We’re really excited that the opportunity for what these two projects represent has been recognised through the funding for an initial discovery phase.

“As a gas network we know we have a responsibility to our 6.8 million customers to support delivery of net zero at the lowest possible cost, and this work can play an important role in understanding how we can achieve that, and make that difference in a faster, more efficient way.”

You can learn more about both projects by watching these short films on PATCH and RESM.

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