Projects
Projects: Projects for Investigator |
||
| Reference Number | NIA_WWU_2_05 | |
| Title | Switching vulnerable consumers to hydrogen | |
| Status | Completed | |
| Energy Categories | Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Demographics) 20%; Hydrogen and Fuel Cells(Hydrogen, Other infrastructure and systems R&D) 80%; |
|
| Research Types | Applied Research and Development 100% | |
| Science and Technology Fields | ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering) 100% | |
| UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation | Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Consumer attitudes and behaviour) 100% | |
| Principal Investigator |
Project Contact No email address given Wales and West Utilities |
|
| Award Type | Network Innovation Allowance | |
| Funding Source | Ofgem | |
| Start Date | 01 October 2021 | |
| End Date | 31 August 2022 | |
| Duration | ENA months | |
| Total Grant Value | £139,960 | |
| Industrial Sectors | Energy | |
| Region | Wales | |
| Programme | Network Innovation Allowance | |
| Investigators | Principal Investigator | Project Contact , Wales and West Utilities (100.000%) |
| Industrial Collaborator | Project Contact , Wales and West Utilities (0.000%) |
|
| Web Site | https://smarter.energynetworks.org/projects/NIA_WWU_2_05 |
|
| Objectives | In summary, the project is split into five work packages:Work package 1 initiates the plan and manages delivery.Work package 2 maps out the current maintenance process and the planned hydrogen switch process. This forms part of the Discovery stage along with Work package 3.Work package 3 defines the risks through customer research and an expert workshop.Work package 4 is the Alpha stage. It generates and tests ideas for mitigating risks with experts and vulnerable customers. Finally, Work package 5 documents and disseminates the process to build confidence vulnerable customers can safely switch to hydrogen. Data Quality StatementThe Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) will apply their Quality Management System (QMS) to make sure that the data collected and used is of sufficiently high quality to deliver the project objectives. Measurement Quality Statement This project will collect data on what consumers perceive to be the risks of switching them from natural gas to hydrogen and how to manage them effectively. It applies several techniques, procedures, and mechanisms to ensure results are traceable, reliable and comparable, namely: 1) Service blueprintsThese map out WWUs operational process for managing any supply interruptions caused by switching homes to hydrogen or maintaining the gas grid. They will be used to focus subsequent activities and updated to highlight how mitigations can be implemented. This enables recommendations to be traced to their original source. 2) Parallel workstreams Involving both vulnerable customers and experts increases the reliability of findings. Including a range of participants with diverse experience improves the data collected. 3) Prioritisation tasksExperts and customers will compare different risks and proposed mitigations according to various criteria (e.g. severity/desirability, technical feasibility, and commercial viability). Variation in ratings provide another estimate of reliability. The project is rated low in the common assessment framework detailed in the ENIP document after assessing the total project value, the progression through the TRL levels, the number of project delivery partners and the high level of data assumptions.No additional peer review is required for this project. At this stage we are defining vulnerable customers as those on WWUs priority services register, with the aim to include a diversity of participants with a range of vulnerabilities and views. The project will also include a wide range of experts from WWU.The project will look to define a process that vulnerable customers endorse and key energy sector stakeholders support. The aim of the project is not to see financial benefits but to develop helpful and necessary processes to assist vulnerable customers in the conversion to hydrogen. There is a lot of ongoing work to identify the most effective route to meet net zero in the UK and this project is one of many projects to evidence the major or minor role hydrogen will have in different scenarios. Repurposing the UK gas networks with hydrogen to support the challenge of the climate change act has the potential to save £millions with minimal gas customer disruption verses alternative decarbonisation solutions The objective of the project is to plan how to minimise the number and duration of supply interruptions and keep people safe and warm throughout a hydrogen switchover. | |
| Abstract | The project will fund the design of a practical, safe process for switching vulnerable customers from natural gas to hydrogen. | |
| Publications | (none) |
|
| Final Report | (none) |
|
| Added to Database | 02/11/22 | |
