Learnings

Outcomes

The outcome of the project is that NGN and Scotia have worked with Steer to develop phase one Tee Nee tooling, which has proven thus far to deliver benefits and the potential to become a solution to an existing challenge for all gas networks.

The final report provides both parties with enough information to build a business case to progress to phase two and further develop this concept into a marketable product.

Lessons Learnt

There were a number of lessons learnt during the work, including ensuring balancing the requirements of each of the stakeholder parties in the work. Some minor comments are:  

•            Through Innovation, the Project was well supported by Operations and Policy from both GDNs, which meant we received timely and appropriate feedback on the work. The use of video interviews and online survey resources meant we were able to gather the information and interrogate it appropriately. 

•            The ongoing issues of COVID-19 with restrictions moving between levels caused some issues when carrying out Soft Test 1. When this happened, we were able to enact plans in order to minimise the impact on the work. 

•            The health issues caused by COVID-19 hampered Steer and Fusions' ability to work together, but both parties used appropriate teleconferences to minimise the impact. 

One important lesson learnt was surrounding the recruitment, contractual position and work with the Manufacturing Partner, which took longer than was originally anticipated. Firstly, discussions over non-disclosure Agreements internally took longer than expected, with a number of iterations going between Steer, SGN, and NGN. It was originally planned to work to create a draft Heads of Agreement between the Project and the Manufacturing Partner at the start of the work. However, the Steering Group then felt there wasn't a need to do that upfront, and we should do that as a dialogue with the Manufacturing Partners progressed. 

Although this decision was made with the best intentions, it resulted in lengthy discussions between Steer, SGN, and NGN before we were in a position where we could provide this to the Manufacturing Partner. 

Although this Manufacturing Partner had been involved in an NIA project before, there was a significant education process Steer carried out with their legal team (based in Europe) in order to help explain the particular boundaries that we were working with. These were positive discussions but added to the overall project time.