Written Evidence Submitted by Dr Angela Needle, Director of Strategy at Cadent

(HNZ0099)

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to share with your committee the work that Cadent is doing to ensure hydrogen can be delivered safely across the gas network.

As I mentioned during the session, our role is to ensure that if a choice is made by the public and Government to use hydrogen for heat, the gas network can safely and reliably enable this.

There was some discussion of our HyDeploy scheme, which has seen a 20% hydrogen blend added to the private gas network at Keele University. This has been a success (which highlights the gas engineering brilliance we have in the UK), with no reports of issues for any consumers. The results we’re creating through HyDeploy are key for community uptake and prove the potential to decarbonise our heating systems without requiring significant behavioural change or cost to individual households. A Keele resident who received the blend and was interviewed by The Sunday Times, said:

“We didn’t notice any difference. They [Cadent] came in to check our boiler and cooker before it started, but other than that we didn’t have to do anything. If the University hadn’t told us it was happening we wouldn’t have known.”

During the evidence session, I also touched on the policy mechanisms needed to unlock hydrogen blending. First, we would like to see the Government support the roll out of 20% hydrogen blend across the network as soon as possible by updating the Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996 and the Pipeline Safety Regulations 1996. The annual carbon emissions savings from this would be equivalent to taking up to 2.5 million cars off the road.

Second, we agree with others across the industry that hydrogen-ready boilers and hydrogen-ready appliances should be mandated from 2025. This decision would not only help secure significant Net Zero gains, but would also help to secure further investment into UK innovation and manufacturing.

Third, we hope that the Government uses the forthcoming hydrogen strategy to progress all Industrial Decarbonisation Clusters (IDC) in parallel. The six IDC projects are poised to put considerable effort into a competition that will pick just two projects to fast track by 2025. This is a missed opportunity when all IDCs have significant carbon abatement and hydrogen production potential.

The Hydrogen Task Force estimates hydrogen could be worth up to £18 billion to the UK-wide economy and support 75,000 UK jobs by 2035. To create these jobs, we need to start somewhere at scale, and we need to start now. Hydrogen blending is an ideal starting point and will trigger major private investment in different areas. For example, the Hynet project in the North West has the potential to unlock £3bn of investment, but only if the business models that underpin carbon capture and storage and hydrogen production are delivered.

The above policy levers will go some way in unlocking this potential whilst making a significant contribution to our Net Zero ambitions.

Thank you once again for inviting me to appear before the committee and please do let me know if you require any additional information on the points above or the evidence I gave during the session.

(May 2021)