Project Union is due to commence construction in 2026 and needs to consider the costs and proposed changes to the network to enable it to transport Hydrogen. Whilst the consideration of the hydrogen backbone route and approach is being undertaken through the Project Union PreFEED, the asset design needs to be reviewed to provide the evidence required by the HSE. The NTS has been designed for natural gas transportation, when designing new hydrogen networks there are differences in the approach that need to be considered to determine the safety of using the network as is and the cost associated to including hydrogen network elements.
The outcome of this project will inform whether our current network can be directly used with hydrogen or is additional elements are required to ensure safety and optimised operation. Consideration of network resilience will also be made when considering asset capability.
Benefits
Understanding risks and costs associated to moving the natural gas network elements to meet the hydrogen network design.
Enabling comparison and identification of any additional aspects required on the NTS network when repurposing the network from natural gas to hydrogen.
Understanding of the scale of work required to update NGT operational network and their resilience for hydrogen
The project has the potential to influence future decision-making and support the delivery and development of Project Union.
A proposed risk/cost model which can be taken forward to gathering the required evidence to update documents (Phase 2)
Supporting update policies and procedures for hydrogen, which will enable safe operation and maintenance of the NTS.
Learnings
Outcomes
The project will help to identify challenges and opportunities associated with linepack in the energy transition and
gain knowledge on potential solutions for further consideration. This will help to inform the hydrogen strategy for
NTS.
Value tracking
Data Point
Data Point Definition
Maturity
TRL 2-4
The maturity of the existing uprating process is advanced, consideration for how hydrogen impacts this new process has not been made and therefore the TRL is low at the start of this project but should rapidly increase.
Opportunity
100% and multiple asset classes including Project Union
The project will cover all of the network routes and Above Ground Installation (AGI)/Compressor station locations and assets on the NTS.
The project also can be applied to Project Union phasing decisions.
Deployment costs
-
The project is not delivering something that will be deployed on the network.
Innovation cost
£1,006,729.33
The cost of the innovation includes a desktop study, site visits, reporting and project management.
Financial Saving
-
The project may result in financial savings if the findings can be used to avoid costly changes to NTS assets and configurations, however this will not be realised within this work.
Safety
-
The project can be taken forward to update policies and procedures for hydrogen, which will enable safe operation and maintenance of the NTS.
Environment
-
The project will not have any direct CO2 savings but will help enable hydrogen in the NTS.
Compliance
Ensures compliance
The project will support compliance with relevant safety standards for safe operation of hydrogen network in the future.
Skills & Competencies
Individuals
Individuals directly involved with the project will gain an understanding into the hydrogen networks and current NTS assets designs with hydrogen.
New tool, skills and competencies will need to be developed across the departments.
Future proof
Supports business strategy
The project will help enable hydrogen in the NTS and support the energy transition.
The project has the potential to influence future decision-making, such as Project Union phasing and RIIO-3 investment to enable NTS network decisions on future hydrogen transmission infrastructure
Lessons Learnt
Technical Learnings
· In general, it is considered that there is sufficient published guidance to enable the safe and effective design of the assets for hydrogen.
· TD/1 and TD/13 is selected to be basis of the design for hydrogen assets due to the specific guidance provided for design of hydrogen compared with natural gas and there is a great level of cross-reference on international hydrogen code standards. (ASME B31.12 Hydrogen Piping and Pipelines, PD ISO TR 15916-2015 and CGA G5.5 – Standard for Hydrogen Vent Systems)
· Given the widespread application of TD/1 and TD/13 for gas transmission system design, it is reasonable to expect that the respective hydrogen supplements will become the primary design codes for a UK hydrogen transmission system.
· IGEM Standard SR/25 should be applied for hazardous area classification, with cross-reference against BS EN 60079 and EI IP-MCSP-P15.
· IGEM Hydrogen supplements are relatively new and we required to continue to challenge and review the details the IGEM hydrogen supplements against key general pipeline codes and standards throughout the design process.
· There are no significant gaps in the availability of suitable materials from which to design and construct the hydrogen assets. It is concluded that carbon steels will constitute the majority of the pressure-facing components for the pipeline and AGI assets being designed.
Project delivery learnings
· There were significant delays in delivery due to resource constraints and limited capacity to deliver as planned. WSP have recruited more process engineers into the team and revise programme to ensure WSP will be able to manage their resources and time for delivering Phase 2 study within the same timeline planned.
· The deliverables are reviewed by internal stakeholders across the business, but more engagement sessions with Project Union is required in order to make sure learnings will be shared effectively. More workshops sessions are planned to increase the level of engagement.
