Learnings

Outcomes

The outcomes of project are summarised below:

• Analysis of demand and post code data concluded that gas demand in the south east of England is dominated by domestic consumers, totalling over 70% of overall demand.
• The proposed new hydrogen pipeline from the Isle of Grain should follow the existing National Transmission System and Local Transmission System route corridors for planning and consenting purposes, rather than diverting to connect to specific industrial and commercial sites. Some large industrial and commercial users were identified and potential spur connections have been considered for future incorporation if determined viable in future stages of the project.
• Existing offtake sites at Farningham A and Tatsfield scored the same in the routing multi-criteria analysis. Tatsfield scored higher in terms of current and future potential demand criteria but would require additional construction costs of £75M. Therefore, it was concluded that a phased approach should be taken for the design, development and delivery of the H2London pipeline where;
  • Phase 1 is routed from the Isle of Grain hydrogen production facility through Shorne offtake terminating at Farningham A, 
  • Phase 2 is routed from Farningham A to Tatsfield where the connected gas demand will almost double.
• Project Cavendish is currently the only at-scale hydrogen production facility being developed in the south east of England, with the potential to scale up hydrogen production to meet a significant level of regional demand. The H2London hydrogen pipeline should be developed with the aim of connecting to the Project Cavendish hydrogen production facility which will supply the pipeline with hydrogen.
• Through engagement with the Project Cavendish partners it has become known that the projects development has been put on hold since its unsuccessful CCUS Cluster Sequencing Track 1 applications in 2022, firstly as part of the Project Acorn cluster plan, and secondly as part of the HyNET cluster plan. At the time it was concluded that the primary reasons for this were:
  • Lack of UK Government support for hydrogen production projects which have a strong emphasis on hydrogen off-takers into the gas networks via blending.
  • Lack of UK Government support for hydrogen production projects and CCS projects which were seeking to transport their captured CO2 via shipping.
  • Lack of UK Government focus on the south east of England, with primary focus being on the north.
• The Project Cavendish co-operation agreement between the 6 partners elapsed in 2022 and was not taken forwards, with the partners siting that it was financially challenging to continue to develop the project without greater certainty on the above points. The partners remain in contact and reconvened in Q2 2023 after guidance on CCUS Cluster Sequencing Track 2 was released by UK Government. Whilst they have been encouraged by the inclusion of ‘Non-Pipeline Transportation’ of CO2, and appetite remains to see the project come to fruition, the lack of clarity on a blending decision continues to be a blocker on further investment in to Project Cavendish.
• A positive hydrogen blending decision is critical to realising the future development and benefits of a H2 London pipeline and the wider network.
• It is crucial that SGN’s assets are ready to accept a hydrogen blend, in the wider southern network and particularly within the zones of influence shown from injecting hydrogen at Farningham A, Tatsfield, and the Isle of Grain.
• To future proof the system for a maximum hydrogen delivery case and to reduce the need to construct additional parallel pipelines in the future, it is concluded that a 30” diameter pipeline is adopted. This recommendation is to be tested through future pre-FEED and FEED phases.

A series of recommendations were also produced and are discussed below:

• In the next phase of development of the H2London project, further studies will be required, in partnership with the stakeholders of Project Cavendish and Project Union, to develop the operational and contractual relationships between the new H2London hydrogen pipeline, Project Cavendish, existing SGN networks, Project Union, the NTS, and direct customer offtakes. These studies will need to develop answers to the following key questions:
  • Blending operations methodology – How will hydrogen from the H2London pipeline be blended into existing networks at offtake points?
  • Hydrogen injection into the H2London pipeline from Project Cavendish – How will pressurisation regimes and controls align between the operations of the Project Cavendish hydrogen production facility and SGN’s network in the south east?
  • Contractual and commercial considerations – How would the contractual relationship between Project Cavendish, H2London pipeline and its offtake points be structured.
• It is recommended that further detailed analysis is carried to determine a suitable location and the pipework configuration for a tie-in point at Farningham A and Tatsfield.
• Further development of the pipeline routing will be necessary, including determining the locations of AGIs, block valves and pigging points. It will also be important to begin engagement with landowners and develop land referencing to de-risk the route from a consenting perspective.

Lessons Learnt

The project has generated learnings that are specific to the geographic area relevant to the study. However, the working principles adopted during the study could be applied to other hydrogen pipeline routing projects across GB.