As part of our Countdown to COP series, Utility Week speaks to Northern Gas Networks’ chief executive Mark Horsley. He discusses why the energy transition doesn’t need to be scary, the need for utilities to support councils and why there is no more time to waste on accelerating green infrastructure projects.

COP26

What do you want to hear from the conference

COP26 is a great opportunity for governments to raise the profile of and discuss solutions to the decarbonisation of heat. In the UK alone, many householders are unaware of the scale of change ahead. But it doesn’t need to be scary! A whole systems approach, including heat pumps and hydrogen solutions, can give the UK and other countries a resilient energy system with customer choice at its heart.

What should the legacy of COP26 be?

We want to be able to look back at COP26 and say that governments and leaders made firm commitments to accelerate the global decarbonisation of heat and that these decisions and resulting action have played a key role in stopping global temperatures rising, protecting our planet for future generations to enjoy.

Is your company actively participating in COP26? If so, what are you doing?

We’ll be supporting COP26 via activities and media visits at our Hydrogen Home near Gateshead – the only homes in the UK to showcase 100% hydrogen appliances manufactured in the UK. Here, we aim to raise awareness of hydrogen as a viable and clean alternative to natural gas. We also want to help people to see first-hand that hydrogen boilers, hobs and cookers look and feel very similar to the technology and appliances they use in their homes today.

Has the UK done enough this year to position itself as a world leader on climate change?

It was great to see the 10-point plan for a Green Industrial Revolution including targets for hydrogen production and the introduction of blending and 100% hydrogen trials, but industry in the UK is ready to be more ambitious. We believe there’s benefit in introducing more trials, spreading the benefits and learning of hydrogen conversion across the UK.  Similarly the production of the UK’s hydrogen strategy was a real step forward but industry is ready to deliver significantly beyond the 5MW target set out in the strategy.

Walking the talk

When is your company planning to get to net zero?

In 2019, working with the Carbon Trust, we became the UK’s first gas distribution network to set carbon reduction targets using a science-based methodology to keep warming well below 2 degrees.

We know that our customers want us to be an environmental leader and we have committed to net zero daily operations by 2031 and net zero total emissions by 2050.

Our Environment Strategy has five focus areas which are aligned to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. By 2026 50% of our vehicle fleet will be ultra-low emission or hybrid, supported by a network of electric vehicle chargers at each of our offices and depots. These buildings will be powered by renewable electricity and green gas. We will send less than 0.1% of our waste to landfill and use recycled materials to fill in the holes that we dig. And over the next five years we will be planting 40,000 trees throughout our network, delivering societal benefits worth £21 million.

To what extent should utilities look to offset emissions as opposed to focusing on achieving zero carbon?

As a business based at the heart of the communities that we serve, our customers and stakeholders views are incredibly important to us, and an integral part of our decision-making process. They feel strongly that we should focus our actions on directly reducing carbon emissions, starting at the source, and we agree. That approach is embedded into our strategy and sustainable delivery plan.

Customers and the community

What role do you think utilities have in helping to accelerate the climate plans of local authorities?

Local government are fantastic conveners – they’re perfectly placed to bring together communities and develop locally relevant plans for hitting net zero. But they can’t do it alone and, as anchor institutions in those communities, we’re supporting them in developing those plans. We’ve entered into a partnership with Northern Powergrid, the electricity network operator for Yorkshire and the North East, so that together we’re providing data and insight to Local Government that considers the full range of pathways open to them. And we’re developing projects like East Coast Hydrogen, which will provide better data on how and when our assets could decarbonise in each local area.

What role can utilities play in helping to engage customers on the path to net zero?

Utilities have a key role to play in educating customers about the options and presenting information in a way which is fair, timely and easy to understand. At NGN, customers are at the heart of our decision making – our Citizens Jury and Young People’s Council are helping us design net zero services of the future. We’ve carried out social science research which has shown customers want to be brought along on the energy transition journey. Our Hydrogen Home is bringing the reality of a hydrogen future to customers and helping to demystify the concept of a hydrogen by giving them the opportunity to experience heating and cooking with this clean burning gas for themselves.

Policy & regulation

What is your principle ask of government and the regulator to help your company contribute to the net-zero push?

We’re experiencing a climate emergency and large infrastructure projects take time that we don’t have. We want to see the government ramping up hydrogen village trials across the UK and running these in parallel, while committing to creating a hydrogen city by 2030.