Northern Gas Networks (NGN) has awarded a contract to Arup to undertake a pre-front-end engineering design (FEED) study for the UK East Coast Hydrogen (ECH) project, focusing on areas within its network including Teesside and the Humber.
The ECH project is joint initiative between gas network operators Cadent, NGN and National Grid Gas Transmission.
The ECH project is aimed at connecting 10GW of hydrogen production to the gas network in the northeast of England and support the government’s 2050 net zero plans.
The 15-year programme of works will be carried out in phases to decarbonise the NGN network, with the Pre-FEED study forming part of Phase 1.
The pre-FEED study is due to be completed this summer. The rest of Phase 1 will run until 2026 and includes the FEED study and development of East Coast Cluster Infrastructure.
Arup UKIMEA energy skills leader Steve Saunders said: “Hydrogen will have a key role to play in decarbonising industry and Arup’s recent contribution to the Humber Industrial Cluster Plan and Teesside Hydrogen Vision demonstrate the environmental, economic and social potential in the Northeast of England.
“This study will consider many of the projects already identified through these regional strategies that are key for both importation, production and storage of hydrogen.”
The work will involve the following:
- Data mining and information gathering
- Assessment of information, and commencing the development of the reports leading to the first deliverables – which include demand, production and storage studies
- Development of a modelling brief to confirm how many options should be modelled and to what level of detail for the next phase of the study. These options are to be modelled in collaboration with NGN.
Arup has said that when the preferred options have been identified the next phase of the study will be to develop the design with enough information to complete a FEED study.
The company has stated: that preparation for FEED will include input into routing corridors, a list of new assets required and an understanding of what assets can be repurposed.
An assessment of the general and specific project challenges with this option will be documented separately, Arup has confirmed.
NGN senior project manager for hydrogen Chris Verity said: “ECH will be key to enabling the hydrogen economy to grow from the initial Teesside and Humber clusters and bring a viable option for achieving net zero to the whole of the NGN network area.”
Source : Newcivilengineer