Weekend press: Gas network battles revolt against hydrogen trial

Northern Gas Networks is battling to prevent its proposed hydrogen trial in Redcar from suffering the same fate as Cadent’s Whitby project, which was the only other candidate to become the UK’s first ‘hydrogen village’ but was cancelled earlier this year due to local opposition. Also in the latest round-up of the weekend’s papers, the government is warned that heat pumps are currently ‘too noisy’ for millions of British homes and England sees no new applications for onshore wind farms.

Gas network battles revolt against hydrogen trial

The last hope for trialling hydrogen heating in Britain is teetering on the brink, as the gas network behind the project faces a local revolt.

Staff at Northern Gas Networks (NGN) have been going door-to-door in Redcar to shore up support for their experimental scheme amid growing discontent and the threat of protests by some residents.

The NGN trial would see the company supply hydrogen instead of natural gas to as many as 2,000 homes in the area from 2025.

The fate of the project has significant implications for UK energy policy, because it is seen as the last chance for the gas industry to prove to the Government that hydrogen heating can be practically implemented.

Ministers cancelled the only other proposed national trial in Whitby, Ellesmere Port, over summer because of a lack of “strong local support”.

Now, a group of residents in Redcar are campaigning for the hydrogen trial there to be cancelled as well, with just weeks to go before ministers are expected to announce whether it can go ahead. Residents are planning to hold protests, including one on the morning of November 18.

Opposition there has so far been less vocal than in Whitby but is growing, raising serious doubts about whether NGN will be able to prove it commands widespread local support.

Dawn Campbell, a grandmother-of-two who owns two properties likely to be affected by the trial, said on Friday: “It is the fact that we were never really asked whether we wanted this, which I think is undemocratic, but I am also concerned about the safety aspect of it.

“This would be an experiment really. I am worried about my two tenants and also worried about my investments.”

If the trial proceeds, residents would be able to choose between having their natural gas heating converted to run on hydrogen or – if they do not wish to participate – having an electrical alternative installed, such as a heat pump.

Ms Campbell said: “There is no way to opt out and keep your gas. I know some people who have said they wouldn’t let the hydrogen people into their homes.”

On Friday, the Government reiterated that it would not progress the trial in Redcar without community support. A decision is expected before the end of this year.

The case for hydrogen was dealt another major blow last month, when the National Infrastructure Commission said it was an inefficient solution that risked saddling consumers with higher bills.

Amid the rising concern, NGN has been asked by Redcar and Cleveland Council to organise a meeting for residents to have their concerns heard and addressed in December.

It follows a separate meeting organised by residents themselves last week, featuring a panel of independent experts. NGN was invited to but did not attend.

Alec Brown, the local authority’s leader, said he suggested holding another event after seeing claims on social media websites that hydrogen heating would put homes at risk of explosions.

NGN insists hydrogen heating is perfectly safe and that all proposals would have to be signed off by the Health and Safety Executive before going ahead.

The company also says the project will bring large economic benefits to the area, including £300m of investment and hundreds of new jobs.

Mr Brown said: “The overall level of support for the project is actually hard to gauge at the moment, partly because the people who do not want something are often the loudest.

“When we speak to people on the doorstep, we have noticed that many say they would welcome the hydrogen trial – but also many are on the fence and unsure about it.

“At the end of the day, it is up to residents whether this goes ahead.”

NGN is understood to be looking at whether a meeting can be held within the coming weeks, including whether a representative from the Government could attend.

The Telegraph

Heat pumps ‘too noisy’ for millions of British homes, Government told

Heat pumps are too loud to be installed in millions of homes under the Government’s noise guidelines, ministers have been told.

The Government wants to install 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028 to hit net zero targets, but a report by sound specialists warns uptake could be limited.

The study reveals that most heat pumps are too loud for many homes in built-up areas, such as terraced houses and flats, because they would break noise limits set for homeowners who want to install one without planning permission and with a government grant.

Local authorities are also braced for a rise in noise complaints as more of the green appliances are installed in urban areas, the report seen by The Telegraph reveals.

The findings, which were produced by a group of noise experts, have been sent to the Government to contribute to a review into heat pump noise being run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnz).

Air source heat pumps, which are positioned outside a home, can produce a low constant hum of between 40 and 60 decibels which is similar to the level of noise made by a fridge or dishwasher. They will typically run continuously throughout winter.

The Government is encouraging homeowners to install heat pumps by offering up to £7,500 towards the cost under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). The grant was last month increased from £5,000 after fewer than 10,000 of an available 30,000 vouchers were redeemed in the first year.

But in order to qualify for the government money, heat pump installations must comply with regulations set out by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) – including a minimum level of noise disturbance to neighbours. It means a heat pump must not generate a noise louder than 42 decibels within one metre of a neighbour’s door or window.

Yet the report, which was presented to the Institute of Acoustics at a conference, found that of the top heat pumps from the five main manufacturers, not one device would meet MCS standards on noise unless the unit was at least 4m away.

The authors warned: “Without the MCS there is no BUS grant and, therefore, a likely significant reduction in uptake of [heat pumps] across England and Wales.”

Heat pump installations also have to comply with MCS standards to be installed without planning permission as a permitted development.

The report was compiled by experts from the consultancies Apex Acoustics, Sustainable Acoustics and ANV Measurement Systems. Two of the consultancies were commissioned by the Welsh government to provide advice on heat pump noise, and a summary of the report’s findings have also now been sent to Desnz to be added into the UK-wide review.

The researchers examined the heat pump product factsheets of manufacturers covering around 70pc of the market to work out how noisy they would be, and how far they would have to be sited from a neighbouring home to comply with guidelines. It found models designed to provide a higher heat output, or larger homes, would have to be put as far as 10m away.

Peter Rogers, of Sustainable Acoustics, said all terraces, flats and tenement buildings – equivalent to 47pc of Britain’s housing stock – would struggle to install a heat pump under MCS guidelines. He also said some installations in semi-detached homes, which account for 31pc of homes in Britain, could breach guidelines.

He said that information on noise levels was difficult for households to decipher, adding: “Sound emission data is provided by manufacturers for each model, but it varies hugely how easy it is to find and how it’s presented.”

The researchers also raised concerns that installers do not always offer homeowners quieter models as they often only fit heat pumps made by one manufacturer and are limited to one firm’s products.

Ministers aim to outlaw new gas boilers by 2035 in an effort to hit net zero. Gas boilers in new homes are to be banned from 2025.

The report said planning offices had “tended to only concern themselves with visual aspects”, and that Welsh local authorities were expecting “a sharp increase” in noise complaints if UK Government rollout targets were met.

The Telegraph

Onshore wind projects in England stall as no new applications are received

The government has received no new applications for onshore wind farms in England since cabinet ministers eased planning rules earlier this year – in a further sign that Rishi Sunak’s anti-green policy shift is driving investment abroad.

So far this year, only one new project, with a single turbine, has become fully operational in England, with many more being built in the EU – and in Scotland and Wales, where planning rules are less burdensome. This is despite renewables being seen as the cleanest and safest form of power, and having wide public support.

Since early September, when the communities secretary, Michael Gove, and energy secretary, Claire Coutinho, introduced changes to planning rules, claiming these would boost onshore wind investment, there have been no applications to local authorities, according to the industry’s representative body, RenewableUK, which has studied data held by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The fall-off in onshore wind projects in England contrasts with rapid increases in investment in Germany, France and Sweden.

The collapse will add to growing unease in Whitehall after no one bid for licences in the latest auction for offshore wind projects because the price companies could charge for the energy was set at too low a rate.

The Observer understands that, with panic setting in behind the scenes, ministers will announce a new framework of pricing within days to try to attract more investment into the sector before it is too late. There is also dismay among civil servants and government advisers, past and present, over the effect that recent government pronouncements on the green agenda have had on companies’ investment thinking.

The Observer

Centrica makes move for stake in Sizewell C nuclear power plant

Centrica has made its first formal moves toward a potential investment in the proposed £30 billion Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk.

The government and France’s EDF co-own the development vehicle for the project but hope to retain stakes of only 20 per cent each in the construction phase and are seeking to bring in private investors.

Centrica, the energy group that owns British Gas, is among at least four bidders that joined in an initial pre-qualification process run by the government last month, according to PeakLoad, an energy industry publication.

Chris O’Shea, Centrica’s chief executive, has previously said it will consider investing in Sizewell “if the terms are right”. Centrica owns a 20 per cent stake in Britain’s existing nuclear plants, all bar one of which are due to be retired this decade, but pulled out of plans to build new reactors a decade ago.

The Times

Utility Week’s weekend press round-up is a curation of articles in the national newspapers relating to the energy and water sector. The views expressed are not those of Utility Week or Faversham House.