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industry & government news

CADENT AND EQUINOR PLOT

HYDROGEN TOWN IN LINCOLNSHIRE

GAS GRID OPERATOR Cadent and
energy giant Equinor are exploring the
feasibility of creating hydrogen towns
within the Humber region, to assist
with the UK’s 10-Point Plan for a Green
Industrial Revolution.
Cadent and Equinor have signed a
memorandum of understanding (MOU)
to develop the technical assessments and
concepts for hydrogen production, storage,
demand and distribution for heat. The two
firms have outlined Lincolnshire as the
area to develop hydrogen towns due to the
number of hydrogen pilots being trialled
in the Humber region. These include THE PLANS INCLUDE EQUINOR’S H2H SALTEND SCHEME
Equinor’s H2H Saltend for the wider Zero
Carbon Humber scheme. and the impact that will have on storage nearby and a gas distribution
Equinor’s Vice President of UK Low reducing emissions from home heating. network that is ready to be repurposed,
Carbon Solutions Dan Sadler said: “This Equinor and Cadent believe the switch it’s clearly an ideal location for a
is a fantastic opportunity for the Humber could reduce emissions from an hydrogen town pilot. We look forward to
to target yet another ‘world first’ in the average UK town by around a quarter. developing our plans with Equinor.”
low carbon energy agenda, making it a However, fossil-based hydrogen At the start of the year, Britain’s five
beacon for global investment, innovation currently represents more than 95 per major gas grid companies launched a
and economic growth. cent of global annual production. major collaborative plan to create the UK’s
“Hydrogen offers one of the few Progress is also being made to create first hydrogen town by 2030. Published
options to reduce domestic heating the first hydrogen village. Buildings in as part of Energy Networks Association’s
emissions and we see great value in the village of Winlaton, near Gateshead, (ENA) Gas Goes Green programme, the
these UK trials happening here. We will be some of the first in the UK to new hydrogen plan encompasses the five
can continue to build on the multiple trial natural gas blended with hydrogen. major gas network companies, Cadent,
exciting hydrogen proposals in the Cadent’s Head of Regional National Grid, Northern Gas Network, SGN
Humber, including the flagship Development Sally Brewis said: & Wales & West Utilities.
Equinor project at Saltend, to make “Northern Lincolnshire is primed to Responsible for owning and
this region a real focus of expertise in play a major role in the UK hydrogen operating the infrastructure that
this growing sector.” for heat revolution. With a hydrogen delivers gas to 85 per cent of homes
The companies will assess how the transmission pipeline already at the in Great Britain, the companies have
gas networks could be converted for detailed design stage, the potential for committed to blending 20 per cent
towns to access low carbon hydrogen large-scale hydrogen production and hydrogen into local gas grids by 2023.

The group’s co-director Mike
Bradshaw, a Professor at Warwick
Business School, said government policy
was based on a pre-Brexit environment
which prioritised securing energy
supplies over keeping costs down.
The government has treated gas
use as a “default” necessity when low
carbon options are unavailable rather
than setting a specific gas strategy,
Bradshaw said.
“Reaching net zero will transform
the way we produce and use energy
but as we go through this transition we
need gas by design, not the assumed
EXPERTS WARN THAT MINISTERS HAVE BEEN
position of gas by default,” he said. COMPLACENT ABOUT THE SUPPLY OF GAS FOR TOO LONG

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News.indd 4
News.indd 4 27/01/2022 12:26