How are we going to keep the UK safe when the wind doesn’t blow?

The chief executive of National Gas talks about the “helpful” split from National Grid, the need for a mature debate about energy security and decarbonisation of heat, and why the energy transition is “impossible” without hydrogen.

Jon Butterworth has known for the past two years that he would lead the spin off of National Grid’s gas transmission arm – and is clearly itching to get going.

He has obviously spent the time honing his message that the gas sector – through the transition to hydrogen – is in the vanguard of decarbonisation.

It must be a relief, I suggest, to be free to now make that argument – unshackled from a parent company that has made clear its focus, in the UK at least, is on electricity.

Butterworth pauses: “The way I would describe it is that it’s now far more helpful.”

National Grid remains a minority shareholder in the business, which operates the gas transmission network, manages seven million gas meters and incorporates the gas system operator.

However, new owners Macquarie and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) are widely expected to buy the remaining 40% stake this year.

He describes the separation as “clean split” and stresses that his deep-pocketed owners “understand the opportunity to invest in us”. He describes them as “a breath of fresh air”.

Butterworth, who spent seven years working on National Grid’s interconnectors arm before taking the lead on the gas business, is well aware that not all investors see that opportunity. He accepts that the gas sector has suffered from an image problem and is not always associated with the solutions for climate change.

This is something he wants to change with a well-polished message around decarbonisation, security of supply and the chance for the UK to be a global leader in hydrogen.

“People don’t often seem to fathom that everyone in the gas industry is passionate about net zero and wants to do the right thing. We know we have a role to play.

“As we’ve bet the farm on wind, and we’ll go from 20GW to 50GW, we need to think about what we do when the wind doesn’t blow for the 146 days it didn’t blow in 2022 (based on days when gas provided more than 50% of electricity generation due to low wind output). Gas has got to keep the lights on for electricity. If we throttle demand on the electricity interconnectors that also takes gas demand up.”