A pioneering energy project to gather vital evidence about the suitability of the gas network to transport hydrogen will see the clean burning fuel odourised to smell like natural gas for the first time.
The project, located on a disused network of gas mains in the South Bank area of Middlesbrough, will test operational procedures under 100% hydrogen conditions on an existing network for the first time.
Natural gas, just like hydrogen, is odourless, so a distinct and widely recognised odour is added to warn everyone of a potential gas leak. Following decades of familiarising the public with the smell of natural gas it is expected that, if hydrogen is widely used in the gas network, it will be odourised in the same way.
A bespoke unit has been built to odourise the hydrogen at the South Bank site, with odorant added to hydrogen as it is distributed into the gas mains in the same way that natural gas is odourised today.
The UK has set a target of achieving Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050 to help reverse the impact of climate change. The natural gas currently used by the 85% of homes connected to the gas grid is responsible for up to 30% of the UK’s carbon emissions. Hydrogen produces no carbon when burned, making it a greener energy solution for heating and cooking.
The South Bank project is part of the next phase of H21, a major collaborative UK gas industry hydrogen programme led by Northern Gas Networks (NGN) to assess the suitability of the UK’s gas network to carry hydrogen.
Neil Travers, H21 Project Manager for NGN said: ““There is widespread awareness of the distinct smell of ‘gas’ amongst the general public, built since the natural gas conversion of the 1960s and 70s. It’s vitally important hydrogen can be smelt to identify a gas escape in the same way and I’m delighted that our project will see hydrogen odourised, as well as gathering vital information about converting an existing gas distribution network from natural gas to 100% hydrogen for the first time”
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NGN notes to editors
- NGN started operating in 2005 and has been leading the way as one of the most cost-efficient of the UK’s eight gas distribution networks. NGN delivers great value for money to customers, as well as a whole host of social and economic benefits to the region. NGN is recognised as a dynamic, passionate, conscious and people focused team that safely and reliably delivers gas to over 2.7 million homes and businesses across the North East, northern Cumbria and much of Yorkshire.
- NGN is leading H21, the gas industry’s flagship suite of projects funded by Ofgem, to demonstrate that the existing gas network can be repurposed to carry hydrogen. After proving that it is technically possible and economically viable for the gas network to transport hydrogen, the H21 project is currently examining the safety implications of a hydrogen gas network. The next phase of the project will demonstrate how gas distribution companies would manage the network and the conversion to 100% hydrogen safely. Tests are being carried out on a gas microgrid at RAF Spadeadam, as well as the unoccupied live network in the South Bank area of Middlesbrough.
- NGN is a partner in HyDeploy, a project to blend 20% hydrogen into the existing gas supply with no changes required in customer homes. Following a successful demonstration on a private network at Keele University, the next phase of the project is seeing blended hydrogen supplied to 670 properties in Winlaton, Gateshead from 2021.
- NGN has built the UK’s first homes to demonstrate 100% hydrogen appliances to the public in partnership with Cadent Gas and the Government’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The semi-detached houses, which are open to the public, are based at NGN’s Low Thornley site near Gateshead and include hydrogen cookers, boilers, fires and even a barbecue.
