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Projects: Projects for Investigator
Reference Number	NIA_CAD0001
Title	Industry and Network Blends - Delivering Reduced Carbon Intensity on the Network
Status	Completed
Energy Categories	Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal(Oil and Gas, Refining, transport and storage of oil and gas) 25%; Hydrogen and Fuel Cells(Hydrogen, Hydrogen transport and distribution) 75%;
Research Types	Applied Research and Development 100%
Science and Technology Fields	PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Chemistry) 75%; ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering) 25%;
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation	Not Cross-cutting 100%
Principal Investigator	Project Contact No email address given Cadent Gas
Award Type	Network Innovation Allowance
Funding Source	Ofgem
Start Date	01 May 2017
End Date	01 May 2018
Duration	12 months
Total Grant Value	£930,600
Industrial Sectors	Technical Consultancy
Region	London
Programme	Network Innovation Allowance
Investigators	Principal Investigator	Project Contact , Cadent Gas (99.999%)
	Other Investigator	Project Contact , Progressive Energy Ltd (0.001%)
Web Site	http://www.smarternetworks.org/project/NIA_CAD0001
Objectives	The overall objective is to scope and define a network hydrogen deployment Project in the Liverpool/Merseyside area that clears the barriers for deployment of hydrogen into the gas network and could be financed and under construction in the early 2020s. The objective is to produce a practical, preferred, design which is defined in sufficient detail that the execution risks and barriers, and financial and technical performance, are known in sufficient accuracy to allow comparison with alternative strategies for reducing the carbon intensity of the gas network and decarbonising heat supply to a range of usersThe business case, including possible funding mechanisms and comparison with alternative approaches to decarbonising heat, will be developed to allow stakeholders to assess their willingness to invest in FEED and other work needed to enable a Final Investment Decision. Certain practical demonstration testing is required prior to commitment to proceed with the Project and the objective is to develop executable work programmes to: ; Establish an acceptable network blend level and decide on the maximum hydrogen level sensibly achievable in high heat, industrial applications; Establish an acceptable network blend level for boilers and define the work needed to enable boilers to be converted to operate on a high hydrogen fuel as well as a blend. ; Enable a proving test to be undertaken for a blend in a public network Assemble a viable, investment project for H2 use in the Liverpool - Manchester networkDevelop feasible project configurations, including business case. Assess barriers to the use of hydrogen network blends including the ability of industrial gas users to utilise a network blend. Assess the ability of industry in being able to provide demand management for the use of a H2 network blend in the distribution network. Establish storage and transport configurations for CO2 to meet gas network needs. Assess the opportunities to trial furnace and boiler configurations for H2 conversions linked to the network. Assess opportunities for blending on an open public network.
Abstract	To achieve 80% emissions reduction by 2050 compared to 1990 emissions requires deep cuts across all sectors. The UK relies predominantly on three energy vectors; electricity, gas and oil. Progress is being made in reducing the carbon intensity of electricity, but, as stressed by the Committee for Climate Change in its 2016 carbon budget recommendations, very little progress has been made in reducing the carbon intensity of heat. Gas combustion for heat is the dominant source of emissions in buildings and in many industries. The opportunity to secure deep carbon reductions by use of the upgraded gas distribution network in urban areas to transport hydrogen, rather than gas, was examined in the recent (2016) Leeds City Gate (H21) study by NGN. The work showed that use of the distribution network and conversion of the connected appliances and equipment is technically possible, subject to resolving a number of challenges. These include: the need to convert or replace all connected appliances and equipment across residential, commercial and industrial users; the need to put in place hydrogen storage facilities to enable hydrogen supply to meet a demand which fluctuates considerably on a seasonal and, to a degree, daily basis; and the need for CCS infrastructure to be in place prior to deployment, justified against other needs. The project concept proposed requires the development of a supply chain for converted or new appliances and considerable expenditure on infrastructure. The H21 study concluded that to capture and store ~1. 5mt CO2/yr by substituting hydrogen for gas in Leeds would require a capex of £2bn and opex of £140m/yr. Hence a policy commitment to widespread network conversion and the establishment of CCS would be needed prior to undertaking the proposed H21 project. Cadent commissioned the H2 Clusters project (NIA_NGGD0086) to consider deployment strategies for network decarbonisation using low carbon hydrogen which addressed the challenges identified in the H21 study and enabled material deployment at affordable cost and with acceptable risk. The deployment strategy formulated a conceptual first project for the network changes that met these requirements, had the potential to be operating in the early 2020s and can be expanded subsequently. Building on this, the project concept proposed here involves: Use of a hydrogen/gas blend, with the blend level set at the maximum level achievable without requiring modification of appliances in residential buildings and commercial buildings and most industrial plant, minimising cost, development and deployment risk. Deployment in a large urban, industrised, area with the required multipoint injection of hydrogen into the network from a dedicated hydrogen pipeline system Conversion of a tranche of nearby major gas users with manufacturing processes that lend themselves to the use of hydrogen as transported in the network as a fuel to operate on a high hydrogen/gas mixture. This industrial tranche of users, which are connected to the network, could provide a large and relatively constant hydrogen demand throughout the year and the facility to manage daily fluctuations in the hydrogen supply to the wider gas network. This avoids the need for investment in underground hydrogen storage facilities minimising costs and delivering a material reduction in emissions of CO2. Hydrogen production in a location in which low cost CCS infrastructure can be available. This enables the CCS infrastructure to be justified by the network conversion project alone and minimises costsThe work concluded that the Liverpool/Merseyside area and it s respective network is a very good location for this initial Project. The project concept developed in this location was shown to have no fatal flaws and to offer the prospect of a project with manageable development risk, producing material emission reduction at affordable cost, whilst also forming a platform for subsequent extension of the initial Project to provide wider and/or deeper network decarbonisation, as extensive hydrogen and CO2 storage capacity is available nearby. The area already has industrial hydrogen production, some pipeline infrastructure and an extensive distribution network with domestic and industrial customers on it. There is Local Authority and wider industrial supportThe work proposed here develops this project concept to produce a Project Definition and Execution Plan, together with the Development Plan needed to provide the information and confidence to support a Final Investment Decision on the Project by c2023. The work programme will seek to assemble a viable, investable project, building on the results of the conceptual H2 Clusters study and is entirely network focused. Possible practical project configurations will be examined against the development risks involved and the barriers that must be overcome. The programme will examine the constraints in supplying a suitable blend to the distribution network in the Liverpool/Merseyside area, fixing the geographical limits and maximum blend percentage. The ability of industry to accommodate the blend has not been addressed in previous studies and will be examined as this could inhibit the eventual deployment of hydrogen on the network if it is not thoroughly investigated. The hydrogen delivery pipeline routed and designed and a tranche of industrial users accessible from the pipeline able to accept a high hydrogen gas identified. The location, technical design and potential commercial arrangements for the hydrogen production and for the transport and storage of captured CO2 will be fixed. The programme will involve significant interactions with industry, suppliers and other bodies who will facilitate hydrogen being injected onto the network. The business case will be developed for the preferred Project. This will involve costing (at pre-FEED accuracy), financial and risk assessment. Funding options and the regulatory and policy issues involved will be defined, including benchmarking against alternative routes for decarbonising heat. Close contact will be maintained with the Liverpool and Cheshire LEPs and with the recently created N-W Hydrogen Hub building on their existing involvement in hydrogen initiatives. Interactions with BEIS on policy will be channelled through Cadent. The H2 Clusters study identified the barriers to be overcome before undertaking the required network changes to allow hydrogen on the distribution network. These included the need for experimental demonstration of the use of a hydrogen blend in certain industrial equipment, notably furnaces, boilers and possibly CHP plants as the HyDeploy programme and other studies have not examined this and this could act as a barrier to hydrogen deployment on the network. The HyDeploy programme aims to establish the principle of hydrogen blending with the HSE and define the appropriate maximum hydrogen blend onthe distribution network. Before deployment, a subsequent demonstration trial in a public network is required. CHP plant trials are expected to be progressed by DNV in a separate work programme. The work programme here will consider the work required for applications at industrial sites to confirm the acceptability of a blend and the potential for high hydrogen use, and also the opportunities for a blending public network trial. This will include location, justification and the design of the network trial programme. A number of companies in the Liverpool/Merseyside area have indicated a willingness to make equipment available for a trial programme on industrial equipment. It is envisaged that the tests themselves will be funded separately, perhaps as a NIC project. The results of the Future Billing Methodology study will be relevant to formulating a viable Project.Note : Project Documents may be available via the ENA Smarter Networks Portal using the Website link above
Publications	(none)
Final Report	(none)
Added to Database	10/09/18