Networks plot pathway to decarbonised gas grid

The Energy Networks Association has published a blueprint for creating the world’s first net zero emissions gas grid in the UK, including converting whole regional networks over to hydrogen.

In the report, entitled ‘Pathways to Net Zero’, consultancy Navigant has mapped out pathway to the decarbonisation of the gas grid.

The report finds that switching the heating system to a mix of low-carbon gas and electricity by 2050 would save around £13 billion a year compared to pure electrification.

It predicts that a combination of improved energy efficiency and electrification would slash the volume of gas required for heating purposes by a half to a quarter, compared to current levels of demand.

But it says that relying solely on electrified heating will push increase peak electricity demand from 59 GW today to 204 GW, a large chunk of which would have be supplied by dispatchable gas generation.

Retaining gas in the heating mix would result in a less steep increase to 116 GW of electricity at peak times. This supply of low-carbon gas would be split equally between hydrogen and biomethane.

The report, which was independently reviewed by Imperial College, says that the north of England and Scotland could both be hydrogen zones by the 2050.

In both zones, which would grow out of planned hydrogen clusters in the north west of England, Aberdeen and Grangemouth, transmission and distribution networks would be substantially converted to carry the gas.

The growth of these zones will be spurred, it says, as hydrogen production becomes less reliant on extraction from natural gas.

Electrolysis, which uses electricity to create hydrogen from water, will becomes more feasible on a widespread basis as a way of soaking up the increased spare power likely to be result from the growth of intermittent renewable generation sources.

This will in turn make it easier to roll out the use of hydrogen over a wider area than is currently the case where it is concentrated around natural gas facilities.

The report recommends government should mandate that new boiler installations to be “hydrogen-ready” when appliances come to market in the coming years.

Speaking at a launch event in London, David Joffe, head of carbon budgets at the UK Committee on Climate Change, said the study’s conclusions on the level of biomethane that will be required is “optimistic”, estimating that it is 16 times the amount that his own body believes can be delivered sustainably.

He said that robust governance structures would have to be put in place in order to ensure that the biogas is being sourced in an environmentally friendly fashion and that if this did not happen, a bigger share of the gas grid would have to be converted to take hydrogen.

Joffe said that the UK “might be able” to reach net zero emission by 2045, but only if there is rapid progress on how to get there, citing CCUS (carbon, capture, use and storage) as an example.

“If we don’t make progress on CCUS now, we will be really limiting our options.”

But he said in order to achieve this accelerated rate of progress it would be “really important” to have a mix of solutions and move away from polarised debates, which set different low carbon technologies in competition against each another.

Richard Bass, a director in Navigant’s energy practice in London, said that while it is often assumed that wind power would be the main source of electricity that could be used in electrolysis, nuclear is “definitely in the mix.”