Where the past and future meet

The edge of an ancient woodland, with SSSI status, is an unlikely place for cutting edge energy research, but that is exactly what is happening at Northern Gas Networks’ InTEGReL* site next to Thornley Woods near Gateshead.

Durham Wildlife Trust has been working with Northern Gas Networks (NGN), our region’s network gas supply company, for a number of years, and NGN were conscious that the development work it was carrying out at InTEGReL needed to consider the impact on the local environment. To get the best possible advice and support, NGN turned to Durham Wildlife Trust and the charity’s consultancy arm, Durham Wildlife Services, to analyse site conditions and develop the environmental mitigation work needed to provide Biodiversity Net Gain across the facility. The story of InTEGReL is a fascinating one, and the extensive research and innovation being delivered there, designed to support homes and industry meet the UK government’s Net Zero ambitions. Heating homes and powering industry with gas is currently responsible for more than 30 per cent of the country’s carbon emissions, and is recognised as one of the more challenging areas to decarbonise. Hydrogen can play a key role as, unlike the natural gas we use today, it doesn’t produce any carbon when burned and this, alongside energy efficiency measures and new digital and energy related technologies, can provide the right solutions for a wide variety of customers and industries to support a fair transition to Net Zero for all. This year at its InTEGReL facility, Northern Gas Networks, in partnership with fellow gas distributor Cadent, and the Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), has built two ‘Hydrogen Homes’ – the first homes in the UK to showcase the use of 100 per cent hydrogen appliances for domestic heating and cooking. For the first time, members of the public can visit the unoccupied houses, which are fuelled by hydrogen instead of natural gas. The homes are installed with 100 per cent hydrogen appliances including boilers, hobs, cookers and fires. Visitors can interact with a range of appliances which look and feel like those they use today, and operate in the same way, but are compatible with a Net Zero future. Although a full hydrogen conversion may sound futuristic, there is another innovative and unique project at the InTEGReL site, which is already bringing hydrogen to the public, right now for the very first time. NGN is a partner in HyDeploy, a project aimed at demonstrating that blending up to 20 per cent hydrogen into the natural gas supply can heat homes without any change experienced by the customer. This is possible because current gas appliances are already compatible with a blend of up to 23 per cent hydrogen. In August 2021, the community of Winlaton, close to the InTEGReL site, made history when it became the first community to receive a blend of hydrogen and natural gas on the public gas network.

The 668 homes, along with the local primary school, church and shop, are all successfully using the blend with no impact on how they use gas. Whilst 20 per cent blends won’t achieve Net Zero, demonstrations such as these are an important stepping-stone to kick-start mass hydrogen production. At InTEGReL, a purpose-built hydrogen grid entry unit blends the hydrogen into the natural gas network. The Government recently published its Heat and Buildings strategy which sets out aspirations for the use of hydrogen in the coming years. The strategy aims for a neighbourhood to receive 100 per cent hydrogen by 2023, and a village of 1,000 to 2,000 properties by 2025. In addition, the Government has set out a plan to make a decision about whether hydrogen blending will be implemented across the UK in 2023, a decision which will be informed by the Winlaton pilot.

The development of InTEGReL as a centre of research into the future of energy is planned to continue with another ground-project already designed. Along with partners including Newcastle University and North East Energy Catalyst, and funded in part by North East Local Enterprise Partnership (NELEP), Northern Gas Networks has designed a unique ‘Customer Energy Village’ which it is hoped will be located next to the Hydrogen Homes. This planned development is reflective of the millions of properties that exist across the UK, which were built in different eras, but will still be home for millions of families in 2050. Once built, the nine unoccupied homes would be used as a test bed for different technologies to address the Government’s challenging target of Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050, and will increase understanding of which energy solutions are best suited to different housing stock. The Customer Energy Village design replicates different types of housing seen throughout the UK today. The village consists of three 1910 terraced homes, two semi-detached 1930s houses, a 1950s bungalow, two flats from the 1970s and a detached home from the 1990s, to represent the complexity of the UK’s building stock and the decarbonisation challenge. The first project planned to utilise this new development will focus on exploring energy efficiency technologies that can make a material difference to the energy consumption of the home. Working with National Energy Action and Newcastle University, the technologies will be installed and tested over a 12-month research period, to gather feedback and understand how they perform. Future projects are also looking more broadly at solutions for heat, considering which technologies work best in different environments, to identify the most affordable and suitable clean home energy solutions for different house types. New digital technologies and new low carbon heat systems such as hydrogen boilers, heat pumps, and infrared heat, will all be tested. The Customer Energy Village seeks to further understand the best decarbonisation solutions and support customers as they consider how they might reduce their carbon footprint, whilst driving down their energy bills - allowing them to make well informed decisions on the best technologies for them.

From the start of their work at InTEGReL, NGN realised that the project would only be truly sustainable if it delivered gains for nature, as well as innovation to help the UK and wider world deliver a fair transition to Net Zero. Both the climate and ecological emergencies are real and require action. The work delivered by Durham Wildlife Services put in place the plans needed to ensure that the Low Thornley site was richer in wildlife after the InTEGReL project was delivered than it was before. Durham Wildlife Trust’s role will be to deliver the improvements on the ground. This autumn, volunteers from both organisations spent a day beginning the transformation. Expertly led by Durham Wildlife Trust Woodland Officer, Peter Downes, and his team, volunteers spent time managing the woodland planting that had been done on-site in the past. Glades were formed, creating space for ground flora to thrive, and an area where school groups visiting the site can learn about the wildlife of the local area. The team also prepared areas for future tree planting, which will increase the range of native species on-site. Prep work was also done for the creation of a pond and wetland area, increasing the biodiversity of the site and creating interesting new spaces for visitors to explore as they visit the research projects. More volunteer days are planned to deliver further work, including sowing wildflowers to enhance the grassland areas on-site. As the new habitats establish, the InTEGReL facility will not just be a great place to undertake research and innovation, but a great place for wildlife too.

The Hydrogen Home is now open for visits which can be booked by emailing hydrogenhome@northerngas.co.uk