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TO DEPLOY

By Damien Hawke, Director of Future Networks, Cadent the gas network – switching from the
‘town gas’ stored in huge gasholders to
020 will forever be remembered must be part of the future energy mix. In the network distribution of North Sea
as the most extraordinary the summer, the independent Committee gas – took 10 years. Our industry, and
and tumultuous of years – on Climate Change told the UK in particular investors, now need clear
dominated by a pandemic government that hydrogen was ‘critical’ direction in the form of confirmed UK
2 disease and the unquestionable to achieving net zero and that it needs policy to have the confidence to start
global priority to save lives. to be deployed at scale. It also said that making this next huge change happen.
As the UK’s biggest gas distribution early hydrogen projects must be off the Why so much emphasis on hydrogen,
network, we’ve pulled out all the stops ground in the 2020s. then? There are so many reasons and
to maintain a safe and reliable supply Clearly, that’s music to our ears here we have talked about them often in
through this difficult period, so that at Cadent. For some time now, we’ve features here in Gi: it has zero carbon
millions of homes, hospitals, schools championed hydrogen as a key part of emissions at the point of use, it’s flexible
and offices, as well as industry and HGV the future energy mix. We are simply and very versatile, it can be stored, as a
fleets, have the ‘on demand’ gas supply not going to reach net zero without it. liquid or gas, ready for action when other
needed to pull us through. But what we want to see is a whole renewable sources like wind or solar
If anything, this has proven the value of systems approach; the UK embracing cannot. In the home, it will work in a
– and our reliance on – the gas network. a combination of energy sources – very similar way to the fossil fuel boilers
Unseen in most part because the renewable electricity, biomethane from we use now, meaning familiarity for the
vast majority of it is underground, this food waste, heat pumps, hydrogen consumer and therefore less likelihood
170,000-mile distribution network boilers, electric cars and hydrogen fuel of resistance to change.
has quietly kept energy flowing to all cells for heavy transport. There is no It is really the only answer for
corners of the UK. It is a national asset one-size-fits-all solution to this. UK heavy industry, which requires
– and it will have a major role to play in extraordinary amounts of energy. And
our recovery from coronavirus, in both We believe we have turned it is a realistic solution; so much more
the short and longer term. a corner in showing that the energy goes through gas pipes than
While our operational teams have down the electrical wires. To electrify
focused on keeping this existing gas network must be part of heat and transport, which combined
infrastructure in good working order, the future energy mix. In the make up over 85 per cent of total UK
we’ve not been distracted from another summer, the independent energy demand, 18 times more power
major challenge – that of having an Committee on Climate Change generation would be needed – or, put
energy system in the UK that runs at net another way, this would require 320,000
zero carbon emissions by 2050. told the UK government that additional 2.5MW wind turbines. Right
Because, to borrow a phrase, more so hydrogen was ‘critical’ to now, we have just under 11,000.
than ever we “feel the need, the need achieving net zero and that it This list of benefits goes on. We have
for speed”. We’ve come so far in recent always been keen though to stress that
years, in building and presenting the needs to be deployed at scale this is not an ‘either/or’ argument. We
evidence base that plots a pathway to firmly believe in the whole systems
the 2050 deadline. This tells us that, to We are now at less than 30 years until approach – finding solutions that
reach net zero, we need to start moving deadline and delivering major change fit, which might be electric for some
right now; we cannot delay. like this won’t happen overnight. things, hydrogen for others. Which is
For our part, we believe we have turned Learning a lesson from history, we why we’re working closely with the
a corner in showing that the gas network know the last major conversion of power network operators at local and

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