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| Reference Number | NIA_WWU_02_37 | |
| Title | Hy-Voltage | |
| Status | Completed | |
| Energy Categories | Other Power and Storage Technologies (Electricity transmission and distribution) 50%; Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal (Oil and Gas, Refining, transport and storage of oil and gas) 25%; Hydrogen and Fuel Cells (Hydrogen, Hydrogen transport and distribution) 25%; |
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| Research Types | Applied Research and Development 100% | |
| Science and Technology Fields | ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) 50%; ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering) 50%; |
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| UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation | Not Cross-cutting 100% | |
| Principal Investigator |
Project Contact No email address given Wales and West Utilities |
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| Award Type | Network Innovation Allowance | |
| Funding Source | Ofgem | |
| Start Date | 01 October 2023 | |
| End Date | 30 September 2024 | |
| Duration | ENA months | |
| Total Grant Value | £474,000 | |
| Industrial Sectors | Energy | |
| Region | Wales | |
| Programme | Network Innovation Allowance | |
| Investigators | Principal Investigator | Project Contact , Wales and West Utilities (100.000%) |
| Web Site | https://smarter.energynetworks.org/projects/NIA_WWU_02_37 |
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| Objectives | The Hy-Voltage project will have significant impacts to both gas and electricity distribution networks as they aim to secure future system resilience. To deliver these impacts, Frazer-Nash Consultancy have partnered with leading academics in energy system modelling at Imperial College London and widely respected energy market consultants at Cornwall Insight. Prof Phil Taylor from University of Bristol will be involved as an expert advisor throughout the project. The project will be led by Wales and West Utilities (WWU), with National Grid Electricity Distribution as non-funding partners.This project will assess the viability of introducing flexible vector conversion links between the gas and electricity distribution networks. This will include a thorough consideration of the benefits that this technology would enable, the barriers to its implementation, and a roadmap identifying the technical, commercial, policy and regulatory changes required to maximise benefits the technology can provide.A VCS would form a bi-directional interface between the electricity and gas distribution networks at low and/or medium pressures and voltages.The aim is to investigate the potential benefits of co-located power-to-gas and gas-to power systems at the interface between the gas and electricity networks. The VCS would produce hydrogen for storage when electricity supply exceeds demand, reducing the need for curtailment of renewables, whilst also being able to generate electricity from the gas network as a flexibility service during peak electricity demand. Depending on the future hydrogen demand scenario, hydrogen generated at a VCS could also be stored directly within the network or distributed to the consumer, bypassing the high-pressure transmission system with hydrogen being produced closer to the point of use.A key output of the work will be a strategic view of the feasibility of vector conversion links, and the beneficial role these could play in enabling gas network infrastructure in the net-zero transition.If successful the project hopes to show that exploiting existing gas network infrastructure is crucial to meeting net-zero targets, offering significant cost savings for networks and consumers, regardless of whether the networks are used for distribution, storage or both. Measurement Quality Statement and Data Quality Statement Data measurement procedures and techniques will be employed to meet data quality and measurement objectives, to ensure the traceability, reliability, and comparability of the measurement result. The key analyses being undertaken as part of this work will require WWU asset data, as well as the use of publicly available DNO, socioeconomic, and manufacturer technology specification data, with uncertainty being recorded qualitatively in outputs, and displayed quantitatively, where reasonably possible. Where uncertainty can be quantitively recorded, the impact of propagating this uncertainty through the analysis will be considered probabilistically.The sensitivity of each model that is used during the project will be assessed, providing a greater understanding of sources of uncertainty and the causal factors that are impacting the results. To ensure transparency all data sources will be correctly referenced in the outputs, and each partner will have the opportunity to review and assess the accuracy of any results that to be published. Novel analysis techniques are due to be developed, with the quality of data inputs being essential to ensuring the value of outputs, meaning all partners have a commitment to ensuring continuously high data quality, throughout the project. All partners have strong data analysis skills, are experienced at ensuring outputs are statistically sound, and are committed to observing the principles described in Ofgem"s Data Best Practice (DBP) Guidance, and EU GDPR law. Any assumptions being used for analysis will be reviewed and agreed between project partners prior to undertaking any analysis. The project is rated low in the common assessment framework detailed in the ENIP document after assessing the total project value, the progression through the TRL levels, the number of project delivery partners and the level of data assumptions. No additional peer review is required for this project. WP1: Challenge DefinitionWe will explore learnings from previous relevant network innovation projects and other publicly available sources by exploring the existing landscape and completing a literature review. Learning from previously completed and ongoing projects will be key to ensure that no work is duplicated and that lessons are used to achieve Hy-Voltage"s project objectives most effectively.We will then complete an assessment of candidate technologies for the VCS subsystems. We will undertake a STEEPLE analysis to define wider macro-environmental external factors, and TEPID OIL analysis establishing lines of development required for VCS development. Through combined consideration of these external and internal factors we will identify the barriers, enablers and benefits of VCS development, including those specific to the WWU network, whole energy system and end consumers.WP2: Technical Viability AssessmentThe technical viability assessment will involve a scalability assessment of VCS sizing, as well as the most suitable gas pressure tiers and electricity voltages. We will hold a workshop with project stakeholders to elicit network expertise to guide qualitative assessment of feasible scales, followed by a quantitative analysis of feasible voltage and pressure levels to down-select up to three "scale scenarios" for subsequent analyses.A siting analysis for the WWU network area will be undertaken to determine indicative siting locations and VCS numbers that may be required across each of the local distribution zones (LDZs), highlighting which regions are most suitable for their deployment, should collocated VCS technology appear feasible.Imperial College London will then apply their novel Integrated Whole-Energy System (IWES) model to undertake a detailed analysis of LDZ balancing from the direct interface between the gas and electricity networks at varying pressure and voltage. This would provide indicative storage capacity of hydrogen within the different LDZs for different gas demand scenarios (high, medium, low) considering short-term and long-term operation. This allows for comparison with counterfactual storage options, such as salt cavern storage for hydrogen and batteries for electricity. This can be applied to quantify the minimum of the total cost of long-term infrastructure investment and short-term operating cost by optimising energy system capacity and system operation using VCSs, while considering the flexibility provided by the cross-energy vector interactions, and at the same time meeting security of supply and specified carbon targets.WP3: Commercial Viability AssessmentFor the Commercial Viability assessment, Cornwall Insight will undertake a business model definition exercise, including development, assessment, and shortlisting options for the business model of new market actor(s), detailing how they will interact with existing stakeholders. For example, how a new "Vector Conversion Operator" party"s business model would function and how that new party would contract with electricity and gas suppliers and network operators. Cornwall Insight will also undertake an assessment of potential policy and/or regulatory blockers to operation of the proposed business model, whilst proposing amendments required to remove those barriers.An agent-based model (ABM) will be developed to perform analysis on the identified potential policy and regulatory amendments. Outputs from the ABM will provide quantitative scores for each of the proposed policy and regulatory levers based on their ability to enable benefits to end consumers, financially and in terms of security of energy supply.A cost benefit analysis will be undertaken, focusing on regional and LDZ benefits, but also considering national scale whole system benefits. This will explore how VCS control systems could optimise electricity and hydrogen energy market interaction to result in greatest energy system resilience and economic benefit.WP4: Outline Design and Technology RoadmapOutputs from the technical and commercial viability assessments will then be used to determine suitable use cases for VCS, which will help to down select what is currently regarded to be the most suitable first of a kind, which could be progressed to a future demonstration. This will also explore options for utilising excess heat from different components, which would otherwise be wasted.An outline design for the identified demonstration scale and use case will then be generated, alongside a technology roadmap to capture projected technology, policy and regulatory developments that will be required following the project to allow for exploitation of VCS technology on blended and 100% hydrogen gas networks.The outline design is intended to provide an appreciation of how a viable solution may be configured at a high level. Size and connectivity between key components will be considered however individual components, connections and interfaces will not be detailed. This WP will also include detailed scoping of a Case Study, which will focus on a single location deemed suitable for first deployment on the WWU network, should the technology be assessed as feasible. University of Bristol will be involved as a key partner for Case Study development. There is a lot of ongoing work to identify the most effective route to meet net zero in the UK and this project is one of many projects to evidence the major or minor role hydrogen will have in different scenarios. Repurposing the UK gas networks with hydrogen to support the challenge of the climate change act has the potential to save £millions with minimal gas customer disruption verses alternative decarbonisation solutions The key objectives of the Hy-Voltage project are to:Understand the technological feasibility and whole system costs and benefits of deploying VCS systems to provide a flexibility service for balancing electricity grid operation and producing hydrogen for use by, or storage in, the gas distribution network.Assess the most appropriate scale and siting for these technologies for the optimal cost-benefit balance and identify the network criteria that dictate appropriate scale.Assess the commercial viability of integrating these technologies within the extant energy system and the energy system of the future, and identify the policy, regulatory and technical barriers and enablers to their deployment. | |
| Abstract | This project will the assess the viability of introducing flexible vector conversion links between the gas and electricity distribution networks. Creating an outline design and technology roadmap indicating short, medium and long-term actions required to enable deployment of Vector Conversion Sites (VCS) technology on the networks, including technical, policy and regulatory actions. | |
| Data | No related datasets |
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| Added to Database | 02/10/24 | |
