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Ofgem is putting pressure on the government to make a decision on hydrogen for home heating “as quickly as possible”.
The regulator’s director general for infrastructure, Akshay Kaul, told Utility Week Live that the sector “needs policy clarity”.
He said that taking a decision before the current 2026 deadline would provide clarity for both the gas and electricity sectors on how to plan for the future.
He was making the comments before the general election was called by prime minister Rishi Sunak but said that Ofgem would encourage any government to take the decision as soon as it could.
“We need the government to be making a clear decision on heat and we need that to happen quickly,” Kaul said. “The quicker that decision is made the better.”
He added: “We have a way to go until we have a clear plan for the future of heat. We don’t yet have a plan for what is going to be the role for hydrogen – is it going to play a role or not in heating homes and buildings?”
He further added: “We are trying to do what we can as a regulator to prepare the sector but there is at the moment this basic gap in the policy where heat is concerned.
“Together we should encourage the government to come to a decision on this as quickly as possible and then we can go from there.”
The government has so far resisted pressure to take a more decisive stance in relation to hydrogen for home heating.
Earlier this year, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) revealed that it had received pressure from industry to be “more decisive” on the role of hydrogen and natural gas, ahead of the publication of its revised energy strategic policy statement (SPS).
The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has also called for an accelerated decision and previously declared that there is “no public policy case” for the mass roll out of hydrogen in home heating.
The government has, however, scraped plans for village and town trials and has repeatedly stated that hydrogen will play a “limited” role in heating homes.
It has led some to suggest that more needs to be done to prepare for the decommissioning of the gas networks.
However, Kaul said that Ofgem “doesn’t want to jump to conclusions and start writing big cheques for decommissioning” when it is “entirely credible” that the existing infrastructure could be repurposed, either for hydrogen or for another purpose.
“There is a gap at the moment about planning for the future of the gas networks and we’ve been encouraging government to look at what happens to the gas system as a whole both in terms of transmission and distribution and to work out what are the credible solutions for the future,” Kaul said.
“But as I mentioned the key is to get the policy framework settled – that is the biggest thing which will unlock these futures.”
Responding to Kaul’s comments, a spokesperson for UK Gas Distribution Networks warned against taking “rushed decisions”.
“Before any long-term decisions can be made on the future of home heating, we need a reliable evidence base on the cost and deliverability of all options – including electrification, the heat network, hydrogen and how they all fit together,” they said.
“Although there is a range of evidence and data on hydrogen, the same level of detail isn’t yet clear for electrification.
“Rushed decisions are likely to negatively impact customers, so we are supportive of the government sticking to a timeline which ensures it is making a decision based on a rich base of data.”
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