National Gas Transmission has been awarded an additional £27.17 million to address inefficiencies with project construction, asset registration and asset health assessment.
The funding has been awarded by Ofgem through the RIIO-2 Non-Operational Information Technology (IT) Capex Re-opener uncertainty mechanism.
It is around £11 million less than National Gas had originally applied for, with Ofgem ruling against two of the four projects put forwards for additional funding.
The two projects which have received additional support largely relate to improving data interoperability and data sharing.
The lion share of the additional funding (£22.14 million) will go towards improving “the safety and security of its Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) assets”.
National Gas said that it “is at the heart of its IT strategy and that its ambition is for it to have the capability to monitor critical points within its vast network of assets at all times, without any gaps or downtime.”
Details of the project are heavily redacted within Ofgem’s ruling due to safety reasons.
Ofgem’s final determination to award £22.14 million for this project is some £1.32 million less than National Gas had applied for. This is largely due to a reduction in contingency costs and allowances for third party costs.
The other project to receive additional support relates to the full implementation of building information modelling (BIM) and digitalisation during construction projects lifecycles.
In making its decision, Ofgem’s final determination document states: “By focusing on Enhance Asset Design, could achieve quicker and more substantial returns on the investments, leading to improved overall project performance.
“This approach acknowledges the importance of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and time-to-value in asset projects, ultimately driving greater economic viability and ensuring the timely delivery of project benefits.
“This also provides a good foundation for the development of a digital twin which leverages more benefits in the future.”
A total of £5.03 million will be made available for this project, some £300,000 less than National Gas had applied for.
This is the second time in a matter of months that National Gas has been awarded additional funding through an uncertainty mechanism.
In October last year, Ofgem awarded National Gas £17.35 million to help manage and reduce methane emissions from the National Transmission System (NTS), through the RIIO-2 Net Zero Pre-Construction and Small Projects re-opener mechanism.