From 2023, Wales & West Utilities will be ready to begin blending hydrogen into its gas network, assisting communities with more reliable, locally produced energy.
Wales & West Utilities, like the rest of Britain’s gas networks, has outlined how it will meet the Government’s goal of having gas pipes ready to deliver up to 20% hydrogen to homes and businesses across the country by 2023, replacing up to a fifth of the natural gas currently used.
In its Britain’s Hydrogen Blending Delivery Plan, the Energy Networks Association (ENA) announced the new plan published by energy network companies.
The companies are also urging the UK government to increase its domestic hydrogen production target from 5GW to 10GW by 2030, in order to ensure that as much hydrogen as possible is produced domestically.
Without requiring any changes to people’s cookers, boilers, or heating systems, blending 20% hydrogen into the gas grid will reduce carbon emissions by the equivalent of 2.5 million cars per year.
The Hydrogen Blending Delivery Plan for the United Kingdom states:
- From the winter of 2023/4 onwards, all five of Britain’s gas network companies will follow a new ‘Target 2023’ timeline, allowing homes to benefit from hydrogen as a replacement for up to a fifth of the natural gas currently used.
- A Strategic Approach and a Free Market Approach are two options that the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy should consider for the energy infrastructure changes that will be required to allow hydrogen blending to begin in 2023.
- The five key ‘Market Pillars’ that must be changed by the government and regulatory bodies in order for gas network companies to begin blending hydrogen into the gas grid in 2023.
The Plan builds on the progress made by gas network companies in a number of hydrogen projects, which have shown that blending hydrogen with natural gas is both feasible and safe. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) gave Wales & West Utilities permission to begin blending gas containing up to 1% hydrogen into its existing gas network in Swindon in August 2021.
