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NETWORK / 29 / JULY/AUGUST 2017 KEY POINTS l The HyDeploy project is of significant strategic importance to both Cadent and NGN to demonstrate that Britain's existing gas grid can be central to the decarbonisation of heat and create a place for the gas grid well into the future. l The HyDeploy project looks to demonstrate that a hydrogen blend, for the first time since Britain's conversion from town gas to natural gas, can be transported and utilised safely in a representative part of the distribution network at Keele University. l Cadent and NGN have put together an expert team which forms the HyDeploy consortium to ensure the best possible project is delivered on time and to budget so that maximum learning can be disseminated to gas industry stakeholder. l Blended hydrogen offers significant carbon savings and also reduced cost compared with other technologies, most notably air source heat pumps. l Cadent and NGN believe that HyDeploy will provide key benefits to consumers. It will allow them to receive low-carbon heat without having to change their appliances or the way they use gas. This mix of uses, ownership of a private network, an established range of renewable energy sources and the scale of the cam- pus – allied to the university's expertise in sustainability and green technologies – offers a unique opportunity to develop an "at-scale demonstrator" for smart energy technologies and, therefore, to host the HyDeploy project. The project is broadly split into three phases, each one lasting about a year. During phase one, The HyDeploy con- sortium, led by Cadent, NGN and Keele Uni- versity, will be engaging extensively with customers on the Keele site. Every appliance and installation will be baseline surveyed and tested locally on natural gas and hydro- gen blends, including supporting offline laboratory tests. The network will be surveyed, modelled and operational procedures for leak detec- tion and management processes established. This will include training of operational staff from both Keele and Cadent, who maintain the site. The evidence base will collated and a quantitative risk assessment undertaken to seek an exemption to GS(M)R. This exemp- tion will be given by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), providing it is satisfied that the hydrogen blend meets their rigorous safety requirements for gas. Subject to the HSE giving the green light, phase two will begin. This will involve the installation of onsite hydrogen produc- tion, injection plant and network monitor- ing. The hydrogen production and injection plant will able to deliver up to 20% hydro- gen onto the network in accordance with the exemption. On the network itself there will be static and mobile sample points and compositional, pressure and flow analysis facilities installed. In phase three, the blended hydrogen will flow into customers' appliances. An exten- sive trial programme will be undertaken to confirm, understand and document the operational behaviour of the network and appliances, validating network modelling and developing best practice for network management. The results from the HyDe- ploy project will be disseminated to ensure all stakeholders can benefit from this work and that it can be built upon in the near future with a trial on the public network. The benefits of hydrogen blend Both Cadent and NGN are seeking to make best use of the gas network to support a low- carbon economy and to help the UK meet its emission targets. Blending hydrogen at 20% volume would create up to 29TWh of low- carbon heat a year. This is significantly more than the exist- ing Renewable Heat Incentive is projected to deliver, with the potential to unlock further savings as the technologies and regulatory system develop. If the gas network is not used to deliver low-carbon heat to the customer, other tech- nologies must be found to meet the equiva- lent heat demand. One of the proposed technologies is heat pumps – heat pumps play an important role in all of National Grid's Future Energy Scenarios (FESs). The rollout of heat pumps will require significant consumer outlay and disruption in consumers' homes, neither of which are necessary with hydrogen blending because it will use an existing gas network that has been invested in over many decades. The projected saving of using blended hydrogen at 20% volume rather than air source heat pumps would be as much as £8 billion by 2050, if they are to deliver the equivalent amount of low-carbon heat. Analysis by the National Grid FES team has evaluated the carbon savings expected by blending hydrogen into the distribution system. The analysis has shown that, by 2050, decarbonisation of the gas network by using a hydrogen blend has the potential to prevent the emission of 119 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent on a cumula- tive basis. The project partners One important element of the project is the collaboration between the different partners involved. This project is a true collaboration between two gas distribution networks and the first time it has happened at the bid stage in the Network Innovation Competition. Cadent Gas is the funding licensee and project sponsor, and NGN is the collaborat- ing gas distribution network. Keele Univer- sity is the site sponsor, host network and academic collaborator. The Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) is one of the UK's leading health and safety experimental research establishments and will be responsible for the scientific and experimental programme. ITM Power is uniquely experienced in hydrogen grid injec- tion projects and will supply the hydrogen production plant. Progressive Energy has a track record in undertaking NIC projects and is responsible for day-to-day Project man- agement, co-ordination and planning. Also, there are organisations that will be supporting the HyDeploy programme, including Dave Lander consulting, Kiwa Gastech and Otto Simon. Andy Lewis, innovation portfolio manager, future of gas, Cadent