Heating our homes with hydrogen

(2 December 2020)

Our research is supporting a new project that could see hydrogen become the future heat source for homes and provide green energy to industry.

Durham is one of the partners involved in the UK National Grid’s new £12.7m offline hydrogen research facility.

Gas transmission

HyNTS FutureGrid will use decommissioned assets from the UK’s gas transmission system to see how hydrogen might be delivered to homes and businesses using existing pipelines.

The research facility will be separate from the main National Transmission System.

This will allow for testing of up to 100 per cent blends of hydrogen to be undertaken in a controlled environment, without affecting the existing gas transmission network.

Hydrogen supply

Professor Tony Roskilly, of the Durham Energy Institute, said: “The transportation of hydrogen will be a significant part of the future energy system and there is an urgent need to prove that the transmission network can be relied on in the same way it is today. This is the important focus of HyNTS FutureGrid.

“This announcement brings the UK closer to making transformative hydrogen supply and distribution a reality.”

Find out more

• The National Grid project is funded by Ofgem with DNV GL as the lead delivery partner. Durham University will support the project along with Northern Gas Networks (NGN), Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Science Division, Fluxys and the University of Edinburgh.

• HyNTS FutureGrid will be built at DNV GL’s site at Spadeadam, Cumbria, UK and aims to begin testing in 2022. The UK Office of Gas and Electricty Markets (Ofgem) will provide £9million with the rest coming from the project partners.

• Professor Tony Roskilly is the lead Durham researcher on the project. Tony is a Director of the Durham Energy Institute and based in our Department of Engineering.

• Tony’s research team is leading two Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council national research networks for Hydrogen Fuelled Transportation and Decarbonising Heating and Cooling. They are also developing hydrogen fuelled transport powertrains, Combined Heat and Power and integrated energy hubs. The team is also involved in research into the use of captured carbon dioxide.

• Discover study opportunities in energy and undergraduate and postgraduate opportunities in Engineering.