Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/895363
NETWORK / 20 / NOVEMBER 2017 GAS NET WORKS AND DECARBONISATION OF HEAT also interest in developing demand side response services for industrial users of gas, as already takes place in the electricity market. National Grid is working on developing DSR services to encourage daily metered gas consumers to o er to reduce their gas demand during times of system stress. "Demand side response for gas is not a solution on its own, but it is certainly worthwhile developing it as part of a suite of solutions addressing the problem of gas storage and demand," Fox says. Northern Gas Networks sees hydrogen as playing a crucial role in future gas supply and in the decarbonisation of heat. The H21 project has demonstrated the feasibility from both a technical and economic viewpoint of converting the existing natural gas network in Leeds to 100% hydrogen. "The idea is that we prove hydrogen is a sustainable source of heat in urban areas," explains Nick Phillips, head of strategy and asset management at Northern Gas Networks. The next step is a joint bid from the four gas networks in Britain for funding from Ofgem's Network Innovation Competition for £15 million to demonstrate the safety case for hydrogen. A decision is expected on the bid by the end of the year. "We know hydrogen is feasible from a network point of view. We would use that funding to really demonstrate the safety case through detailed research," Phillips says. Public acceptance and awareness would also be addressed were the network operators to get the Ofgem funding, he adds. "The vision is that we would start in Leeds, but other cities could start the transition to hydrogen as well. We would gradually join things up to form a national hydrogen network which could naturally extend to transport too." In terms of gas storage on networks, for the last ' ve years Northern Gas Networks has been decommissioning and demolishing its low pressure gas holders. There has been an increase in the amount of gas stored on the high pressure system, Phillips says. "We've removed the need for low pressure storage. What we know is that we can now store gigawatt hour levels of energy in the high pressure gas transmission network overnight and release it instantly. "Compare that to battery technology, where for a relatively high cost you are talking about storing megawatt hours of energy: we think the gas network has the potential to store a massive amount of energy for heat and electricity generation across the country." There is already enough gas storage on Northern Gas Networks' high pressure system to cope with peak demand during a winter of a severity only experienced once every 20 years, explains Phillips. Using hydrogen In terms of use of hydrogen, Northern Gas Networks is also working with Cadent Gas Networks on the £7 million HyDeploy Project. This scheme is looking at how much hydrogen can be safely introduced to the existing gas network without having an impact on either the network, or customers' appliances. "Our gas networks in the UK are very stringent in only allowing less than one per cent hydrogen in the gas we have in the network. In Germany, as much as 20 per cent of the gas mix might be hydrogen." On a closed network at Keele University, the project is experimenting with increasing the concentration of hydrogen levels in the gas mix from existing levels up to 20 per cent, and testing the impact on appliances. If the project is successful, HyDeploy might demonstrate the feasibility of introducing more hydrogen into the existing distribution infrastructure now, without any changes to appliances. Moving from zero hydrogen to 20 per cent in the mix would cut carbon emissions by a ' ™ h straight away. At Northern Gas Networks, the gas network is now viewed as a "giant battery", Phillips says. If renewable energy is stored and used to create hydrogen via electrolysis, that then generates heat and powers vehicles, the system could be successfully decarbonised. Is hydrogen destined to ultimately be used in place of natural gas as part of the energy system, no matter what other changes take place? Phillips is emphatic: "Absolutely. Provided our bid is successful and we get the funding to demonstrate the safety case for hydrogen, we believe it can play a signi' cant role in decarbonising heat and transport in the UK. We see the gas networks playing a major role in transporting hydrogen around the country. And long-term, that hydrogen will be created from renewable energy sources, not methane." These are all steps in a major transformation that commentators say is taking place in the UK energy system. Britain is transitioning from a top-down energy system to one that integrates thousands of small, independent clean energy providers and energy storage providers into the grid, and demand side response from industrial, commercial and domestic consumers. Fox says: "Trying to integrate that into a system that was designed very robustly for a top-down model is a major engineering and physical infrastructure challenge." There will also be a huge digital challenge, he says. The potential of consumer-led demand side response via smart meters is huge, but there have been widespread problems reported with the roll-out of millions of the ' rst devices. Fox also believes the cyber security issues in terms of smart meters have not been addressed. "Devices, sensors and smart meters are open to abuse from hackers." Another major issue is public engagement with smart meters and other new technologies. "I think the take-up of smart meter technology has not been as enthusiastic as would one have hoped," Fox says. Although a large number of smart meters have been deployed, he notes, they are not being used e ectively. "I don't see large scale public engagement taking place." Energy storage has made huge strides forward, on the other hand. But Fox says the range of commercially available devices for storage is still relatively small. "There has been a sea change in the last ' ve years or so in terms of storage. But there is an enormous amount of work to be done. "We need to be in a position in which there is a much broader range to the energy solutions portfolio for the future smart grid." "We know hydrogen is feasible from a network point of view." NICK PHILLIPS C M Y CM MY CY CMY K