Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | JUNE 2021 | 19 Policy & Regulation Realising a hydrogen future National Grid Gas Transmission's hydrogen transition director, Antony Green, made an impact on delegates with his presentation about National Grid's Cumbria-based project to build a hydrogen demonstrator grid, in partnership with the Belgium gas transmission operator Fluxys. The project will reutilise gas transmission assets from around the UK and will test their performance as they carry incrementally higher percentages of hydrogen, starting at 20 per cent and moving all the way up to 100 per cent. The facility will also by used for other specialist asset testing, for example explosion testing will be conducted to understand potential changes to hazard consequence areas for assets in a hydrogen future. Critically, however, Green also explained how this project is an important enabler for National Grid's ambition to bring forward a "hydrogen backbone" for the UK, which will focus ‡ rst on linking UK industrial clusters (with industrial heating applica- tions likely to be the ‡ rst to adopt hydrogen) as well as likely points of hydrogen production. Creating this hydrogen backbone in the UK is part of a wider shared vision held by H2GAR, an alliance of European gas transmission operators working together to understand the technical feasibility and economics of delivering hydrogen-capable infrastructure. On the economics, Green noted that research proves conversion of existing gas transmission assets is likely to be three to four times cheaper than new-build and that the UK is in a strong position to capitalise on its existing asset base. The bulk of the cost for the UK, he added, is likely to be associated with the need to replace existing compression technologies. "Current compressors are good for a small blend of hydrogen but cannot take 100 per cent. So compression is going to have to be rebuilt," he said. I t was a pleasure to be part of the Utility Week Future Networks conference at a time that's both challeng- ing and exciting for our industry. At SP Energy Net- works, we're charting a course to net zero which keeps customers at its heart and enables our communities to meet their ambitions while protecting the integrity of safety and security of supply. What this means in practice for our networks and how we operate was very much the focus on my presentation at the event. It's important to understand that these are not just concerns for the future. We are experiencing the impacts of increased uptake of low-carbon technologies across our networks now and we know these are set to increase rapidly – especially as the UK drives for the green eco- nomic recovery from Covid which SP Energy Networks whole-heatedly supports. By 2030, we expect to connect 1.5 million electric vehicles to the network, up to 1 million new heat pumps, and over 7GW of distributed generation. As the UK, Scottish, Welsh and regional governments drive towards net zero, society will need an electricity network that's ready and able to support this change and growth in demand. It is clear that our job goes well beyond simply keeping the lights on. As we step up to the challenge of expanding responsibility in the energy transition, the whole industry needs to focus on devel- oping ways to conŒ dently manage complexity at scale. One key building block for this, which I spoke about at the Future Networks Conference, is investment in network monitoring. Our investment plan will ensure that half of all local substations will have monitoring installed, laying essential foundations for the system digitalisation and visibility of data needed in our transi- tion to a distribution system operator. Furthermore, I referred to how monitoring will enable extensive whole- system solutions, providing decentralisation and local decision-making and allowing us to continue to meet the demands of our customers and communities. With that in mind, it was a pleasure to share at the conference the launch of our fourth and largest tender for ' exibility, where we are seeking 1.4GW of ' exibility services across 1,500 locations on our networks. We Œ rmly believe ' exibility is essential, alongside other innovative approaches in our net zero "tool kit" like active network management, fault level management and ' exible connection arrangements, to delivering our decarbonised future. It complements our well-justiŒ ed infrastructure investment plans and will help us ensure a just transition for all. We recognise our role, and that of the whole net- works industry, as a key enabler to net zero and we're making the changes needed now to fulŒ l that role. The march towards open data UK Power Networks' head of enterprise data, Matt Webb, gave a standout presenta- tion at the conference on the foundations the energy network sector needs to be in place to embrace principle of "presumed open" data – as it was challenged to do by the Energy Data Taskforce in 2019. Focusing mainly on the development of UKPN's own net zero data strategy (within the context of its wider digitalisation strategy), Webb explained why the transition to an open data environment and the development of a digitally enabled energy system requires the implementation of practical, technological and cultural changes. He emphasised that delivering these changes requires sustained attention – not just the unilateral publication of data. The image shown below, drawn from Webb's presentation, shows his interpretation of six core building blocks organisa- tions need for a world of presumed open energy data. Also touched on in Webb's presentation was his work on the development of an industry open data maturity matrix to help create a standard way for organisations to understand their progress on this important and challenging issue. Comment Graham Campbell Head of distribution system operations, SP Energy Networks "Our job entails much more than just keeping the lights on" with thanks to our event sponsor

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