Northern Gas Networks (NGN) has been given the green light to trial a dummy hydrogen network on a street of demolished houses in the South Bank area of Middlesbrough.
The gas pipes to the houses are still intact but are disconnected from the rest of the network. Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council approved the company’s proposals to lease the area of disused land between Ann Street and Harcourt Road at a cabinet meeting last week.
The trial is part of the next phase of the H21 project led by NGN which aims to demonstrate that the UK’s existing gas network can be converted to carry 100 per cent hydrogen. The previous phase saw old pipes and fittings brought from around the country to be tested at a facility in Derbyshire.
“What we’re going to do now is test network operation,” said H21 programme director Tim Harwood. “We’re going to be looking at how we attend to gas escapes; how we do repairs; how we replace pipes and upgrade them.”
Harwood told Utility Week NGN wants the trial to emulate a “real street scene”, adding: “We’ve been looking around for a long time because it’s quite difficult to find an unoccupied street that’s full of normal utilities.”
The company is hoping to begin the 12-month trial in November: “We’ve received approval to do the project and get the land leased. We now need to get planning permission.”
Once completed, they then want to move onto trials on a part of the network that is still occupied: “We believe we can follow on as soon as this work is finished.” He said this would effectively be taking “the first baby steps towards an actual conversion programme.”
“Because things are picking up so much now in hydrogen world, there’s a queue of projects behind us as well so we’re very mindful of the fact we need to crack on and get this work done as soon as we possibly can,” he remarked.
Harwood continued: “Hydrogen production is the limiting factor at the moment so we’re pressing the government to try and get more hydrogen production underway. We can only convert as many houses as we have enough hydrogen to feed them so we do need to step up hydrogen production at the same time as doing all these network tests.
“This all part of the gas network pushing forward and trying to accelerate the hydrogen programme. The timescales have come down from 2025 and beyond to 2022 and 2021 for doing these types of trials.
“It’s good to know that we’re really getting past the basic trials and we’re actually looking forward to the real thing,” he concluded.
NGN chief executive Mark Horsley commented: “Hydrogen can play a key role in the UK’s future energy mix as we move towards zero carbon emissions.
“The H21 programme is demonstrating that the UK’s existing gas network can carry hydrogen, for use by homes and businesses. Teesside’s vast industrial heritage makes it a natural home for this project and we’re delighted that Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council have approved this first stage.
“We now need to work with the South Bank community and its leaders, and the proposals will be subject to full public consultation before they can progress.”