Annual review 2022
Pipeline to the future
Switching from natural gas to 100% hydrogen presents a raft of capacity and network challenges, which our team are tackling in Redcar, in a project that could revolutionise the UK’s energy supply and cut emissions hugely.
Project
Redcar Hydrogen Community
Clients
Northern Gas Networks
Location
Teesside, England
Expertise
Civil, structural, mechanical (pipelines, piping, vessels and rotating equipment), process (dehydration, cooling, filtration, contaminant removal, effluent treatment), geotechnical, control and instrumentation engineering; process safety
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Pressure to succeed
Two proposals were chosen to progress toward detailed planning: Redcar Hydrogen Community on Teesside in the northeast of England and the Whitby, Ellesmere Port, hydrogen village in the north-west. One, or possibly both, of the projects are slated to get the go-ahead from the government in 2023.
At Redcar, the plan proposed by the north of England’s gas distributor, Northern Gas Networks (NGN), involves switching about 2000 homes and businesses in parts of the town to hydrogen, with the majority being generated locally from renewable sources and delivered via existing pipes. Hydrogen appliances to replace gas boilers, fires and cookers would be installed free of charge for the area’s residents and businesses. NGN has set up a ‘hydrogen home’ exemplar project near Gateshead to demonstrate how the new appliances work, and a public consultation is under way.
