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New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
Plans for the UK’s first hydrogen village
14/12/2022
7 min read
Feature
The UK government proposes a trial where an entire village will be converted from using natural gas to low-carbon hydrogen in 2025 to help establish the role this fuel could possibly play in decarbonising homes and businesses. David Watson, Head of Energy Transition at Cadent, the UK’s largest gas distribution network, explains the proposal.
At some point between now and 2050, we will need to turn off natural gas to the roughly 22mn homes across the UK that currently use it to provide their heat and hot water. This significant undertaking is necessary if the UK is to hit net zero emissions by 2050 and requires the largest change in how we heat our homes in over two generations.
Heat represents around 14% of UK carbon emissions today and although overall progress in reducing this has been slow to date, the UK government has outlined a strategy to address this. The strategy involves improving buildings’ energy efficiency, as well as replacing the natural gas boilers many people use in their homes with a combination of heat pumps, heat networks and potentially hydrogen boilers.
Plans have been set out to make a final decision on the role hydrogen might play in the UK’s heat policy in 2026. To develop the evidence base necessary to support this decision, the Hydrogen Strategy sets out a plan to convert an entire place to run on hydrogen for at least two years, starting in 2025.
The logic is clear, building on a series of more focussed projects that have taken place in recent years involving gas network companies working with the UK government, the Health & Safety Executive and others, more work is now needed on how a large conversion could work in practice – from roll-out to operation, ahead of larger town-scale projects proposed for the end of the decade.
'Plans have been set out to make a final decision on the role hydrogen might be able to play in the UK’s heat policy in 2026. To develop the evidence base necessary to support this decision, the Hydrogen Strategy set out a plan to convert a small location to run on hydrogen for at least two years, from 2025.'
Why hydrogen?
Hydrogen has a potential role in providing low-carbon heat for several reasons. The UK has an extensive and modern gas network, and the vast majority of homes already use natural gas meaning that conversion could be easier than in other countries. And the nature of the UK’s housing stock means that other low-carbon alternatives may not always be straightforward for some customers because of both cost and technical performance issues.
The UK hydrogen village project is important, but it is not unique. A similar, albeit smaller, project has recently been announced in the Netherlands where they have similar levels of natural gas use for heat and hot water.