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Creating the UK's first hydrogen village

Providing project management and coordination as part of a multi-team effort, WSP worked with Cadent on their proposal for a village-scale hydrogen trial for decarbonizing heating and cooking in buildings.

Location

  • United Kingdom

Client

The next step in the UK Government’s ten-point plan for a green industrial revolution is to create a hydrogen village by enabling around 2,000 properties to use hydrogen for domestic and commercial heating and cooking. We supported Cadent’s proposal to transition a village, adjacent to its HyNet North West industrial cluster, to hydrogen by utilizing the existing natural gas distribution network. If selected, the project will inform the UK Government’s decision on whether to support hydrogen for decarbonizing heat in buildings.

homes
2,000 2,000
changeover starts
2025 2025
agreement from residents required
85% 85%

Even at a village scale, converting homes to hydrogen is a complex process requiring detailed planning from regulation and safety to stakeholder and consumer engagement. This engagement is particularly important; while most technical challenges can be overcome, the project cannot go ahead without sufficient acceptance from the community.

“What do you know about net zero? What do you think this means for heating your home? What do you think about electric heating or hydrogen heating? What are your concerns?” Consumer research questions such as these informed the consumer engagement strategy and proposition development for the project as well as technical requirements such as pipes, appliances and safety considerations.

Cadent is very excited to have been selected by BEIS and OFGEM to progress through to Stage 2: Detailed Design. This will give us the opportunity to have detailed conversations about the switch over from natural gas to hydrogen in the project area and the wider credentials of hydrogen as a pathway to decarbonizing domestic heating. The programme is inherently complex and puts a range of demands on the project team. WSP has been critical in orchestrating a path through via their role as programme managers and technical integrators.
Andy Lewis Future Networks Programme Manager, Cadent

The hydrogen village trial area was chosen via close engagement with the local council, taking onboard their views throughout the selection process. Whilst Cadent will ensure that residents opting into the trial are provided with a fair contract and will not pay more than their current natural gas bill by switching to hydrogen, consumers will be free to switch to electric heating if they wish – which could require the local electricity network to be reinforced. The project team have also engaged with the local electric distribution network to understand the implications the trial may have on the electricity network.

We defined risks and monitored these within the project risk register for all discipline areas – along with a scope and programme for the next stage of the project and associated costs – to meet requirements and timescales set out by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Ofgem.

Cadent aims to have the UK’s first hydrogen village online from mid-2025, with the project running for up to two years to gather evidence that will inform future policies for decarbonizing heat in UK buildings.

A multi-team effort

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