Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 23RD - 29TH MARCH 2018 | 11 Policy & Regulation A year of challenges and opportunities As a stand-alone gas distribution business, we are able to focus on improving outcomes for customers. Chief executive's view Chris Train, Cadent I n April, Cadent will celebrate its first birthday and what a year it has been – both for us and for the energy industry as a whole. In just under 12 months, we have le our former parent com- pany, National Grid, to become a new, independent organisa- tion under a new board. We have successfully juggled all that a major transition entails while delivering the day job, keeping 11 million homes and businesses safe and warm. There have been challenges. This month, the "Beast from the East" brought record numbers of calls to the National Gas Emer- gency Service, which Cadent operates on behalf of all the gas distribution networks. I am proud to say our people rose to the occasion magnificently. 2017 was, to quote the ancient Chinese proverb, an "interesting time" to launch a new gas dis- tribution company as the energy networks found themselves under scrutiny like never before. Launching the RIIO2 Frame- work consultation earlier this month, Ofgem made it clear it will expect much more from us in the next price control period. Underpinning all of this is the challenge to meet 2050 decarbonisation targets. At Cadent we are well positioned to embrace these challenges. We are fortunate to have investors who have given us their financial backing and their unparalleled expertise. They are working with us to make our business a success, but most importantly to provide the saf- est, most efficient and value-for- money service for our customers. As a stand-alone gas distri- bution business we are able to focus on one goal – improving outcomes for customers. And customers are already telling us they are seeing improvement. Finally, we are combining the mindset of a new organisa- tion with 200 years of experi- ence in the gas industry. This is vital as we tackle what former energy secretary Sir Ed Davey recently described as the UK's biggest energy challenge – the decarbonisation of heat. Network repurposing Repurposing the gas network for low- and zero-carbon gases to heat our homes and industry can help deliver the 2050 decar- bonisation targets affordably and sustainably and I am proud that Cadent is in the vanguard of research in this area. HyDeploy, led by Cadent in partnership with Northern Gas Networks, Keele University and a consortium of technical experts, aims to be the first project to inject hydrogen into a UK gas network. HyDeploy proposes to blend up to 20 per cent hydrogen, by volume, with methane in Keele University's gas network. If this were to be replicated across the country, it would save six million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year – the equivalent of taking 2.5 million cars off the road. Meanwhile, our ambitious project in the North West is exploring supplying blended hydrogen and methane to house- holds and 100 per cent hydrogen to industrial customers in the Liverpool and Manchester areas. We have also invested £8.6 million in a commercial demon- stration plant in Swindon, which uses revolutionary gasification technology to convert black bag domestic waste into biosynthetic natural gas. The plant is due to start operating this year and could revolutionise both energy and waste management. Not only could these "green" gases decarbonise heat, they could also play a major role in decarbonising transport and achieving cleaner air. Reducing emissions In 2016 we partnered with CNG Fuels to launch the UK's first gas filling station connected to a high-pressure pipeline. Dispens- ing 100 per cent biomethane compressed natural gas (CNG) to HGVs, research showed an 84 per cent drop in carbon dioxide emissions compared with equiv- alent diesel vehicles. Research also showed biomethane CNG has an up to 99 per cent reduc- tion in nitrogen oxide emissions. That Chinese proverb may be neither ancient nor Chinese, but Robert Kennedy used it in a speech in 1966 that still rings true today. He said: "Like it or not we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history." At Cadent we have the "creative energy" of men – and women – to seize the opportu- nities and deliver an affordable, sustainable, decarbonised future for all our customers. Chris Train will be speaking at the Utility Week Energy Summit in London in June. For more information visit: http://bit.ly/2FMNstz

• Cover