Ofgem awards £9 million of innovation funding to H21

Northern Gas Networks (NGN), on behalf of all the UK gas distributers, has today been awarded £9million from Ofgem to support its pioneering hydrogen project. The funding arrives from the regulator’s Network Innovation Competition (NIC) pot, and will provide critical evidence to support the viability of converting the UK gas distribution networks to 100% hydrogen. A further £1.3 million will be contributed by the UK GDNs.

The £10.3 million funding will see NGN build upon the work of the 2016 H21 Leeds City Gate project which established hydrogen conversion is technically possible and economically viable.

Such a move would represent the single biggest contribution towards achieving the challenge of the Climate Change Act – an 80% reduction in 1990 carbon levels by the year 2050.

“It would also lead the world in large-scale credible decarbonisation strategies that are transferable across the globe.

“Funding for Phase One is a great start and hopefully in the near future, we will secure the outstanding funding for Phase Two, to ensure there are no delays in the provision of holistic evidence which will allow the UK government to make credible, large-scale decarbonisation policies for UK energy.

“This is a huge step forwards on the road to a long-term sustainable and secure global energy system.”

To learn more about NGN’s pioneering work to develop the energy system of the future, including the H21 programme visit www.northerngasnetworks.co.uk

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