In a significant stride towards decarbonizing the UK's energy system at minimal cost to consumers, Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) has announced an investment of approximately £49.1 million in projects focused on hydrogen technologies. The funding includes significant grants for innovative gas and electricity projects, with hydrogen-based initiatives forming a central part of this investment.

Of the allocated funds, National Gas Transmission has been awarded £33.3 million to modify existing gas compression units for hydrogen use, enabling its introduction into the network. An additional £9.9 million is being invested in exploring the feasibility of using hydrogen for heavy-duty transportation.

One of the highlighted projects includes HyNTS Compression, which will examine the repurposing of existing compression equipment for 100% hydrogen transmission. Led by National Gas Transmission, the project involves multiple partners, including Cardiff University, Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery Ltd, Northern Gas Networks Ltd, Southern Gas Networks Plc, DNV Services UK Ltd, Premtech Ltd, and Cullum Detuners Ltd.

The Velocity Design with Hydrogen project, led by Southern Gas Networks Plc, will investigate the application of hydrogen in gas distribution networks. This initiative also includes several partners, such as Cadent Gas Ltd, Northern Gas Networks Ltd, Wales & West Utilities Ltd, National Grid Gas Plc, Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers, and DNV Services UK Ltd.

The HyNTS Deblending for Transport Applications project will assess the blending of hydrogen for heavy transport refuelling stations into the gas network. This project, led by National Grid Gas Plc, includes partners such as Element Energy Ltd, Cadent Gas Ltd, Northern Gas Networks Ltd, Wales & West Utilities Ltd, Southern Gas Networks Plc, DNV Services UK Ltd, Element 2 Ltd, and HyET Hydrogen B.V.

Marzia Zafar, Deputy Director of Digitalization & Innovation at Ofgem, said: “To achieve our target of clean power by 2035 we need to look across the board for innovative solutions that will deliver resiliency, reliability and affordability at pace.

“Our work with Innovate UK empowers innovators through SIF funding and creates a launch pad for development of the transformative technologies which will help drive forward the energy transition at least cost to consumers.”

Carolina Tortora, Head of Digital Transformation & Innovation Strategy, National Grid ESO said: “We believe there is a huge opportunity during this transition to build a smart flexible energy system by enabling consumers to act as a new source of flexibility, supporting more low-carbon technologies and reducing consumer costs. The CrowdFlex demonstrator is a major step towards a national domestic flexibility programme.” Matt Hastings, Deputy Director of the Ofgem SIF programme at Innovate UK, said: “It is exciting to see these Beta projects, after showing their potential, moving on to demonstrate their energy innovations in the real world. Net zero is the most urgent issue of our lifetime, and the SIF and the energy networks have moved fast to develop these ideas into large-scale demonstrators in less than 18 months from initial proposals. They have the potential to deliver big savings in costs and carbon emissions in the coming years. “The SIF has already funded more than 100 innovative projects since 2022, and we encourage more innovators to come forward with great ideas that could become the transformative technologies of tomorrow.”

UK: £50m Investment in Hydrogen Blending and De-Blending Projects by Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund