Northern Gas Networks (NGN), the gas distributor for the north of England, has successfully secured funding to carry out vital research into the offshore production of H₂.

The Hydrogen Cost Reduction HyCoRe program, backed by OFGEM’s Strategic Innovation Fund, will spend 12 weeks developing a detailed understanding of the integration between offshore wind and electrolysis, with a particular focus on identifying the optimal placement of infrastructure such as electrolyzers and energy storage to maximize the cost and resilience of the energy system.

The goal is ultimately to develop a specialist tool that will be able to quantify the costs and trade-offs, while simulating different configurations of electricity, gas and H₂ infrastructure.

Keith Owen, Head of Systems Development and Energy Strategy at NGN, said, “Successful integration of H₂ by leveraging existing energy networks will reduce the capital expenditure required to support the net-zero transition by 2050, this will ultimately benefit the consumer.”

“However, achieving this integration will require the adoption of novel technologies and new planning approaches, so we’re extremely pleased to have secured the initial funding for this important work.”