How our national asset can help us get to net-zero
Apprentice engineers at one of SGN’s many gas transmission sites, which power tens of thousands of homes and businesses
Simon Kilonback, Chief Executive Officer
| SGN
We can use the gas network to ensure energy security and support the energy transition, while keeping costs down for consumers by using existing infrastructure
Balancing energy security, climate goals and keeping bills down for consumers is a challenge governments have wrestled with for years. As CEO of a critical part of the UK’s energy infrastructure, we must step forward with solutions.
SGN operates the gas network across Scotland and southern England, including South London. We provide national energy security and resilience and serve six million customers, connecting homes, schools, hospitals, power stations and manufacturing industries to safe, reliable, and increasingly sustainable energy.
As the Prime Minister has stated, gas will remain integral to the UK’s energy mix for years to come, but we know we need a cleaner energy future.
Having spent much of my career delivering critical infrastructure projects while trying to keep costs down for consumers, I believe we can learn from other sectors.
At Transport for London, I saw how the city integrated multiple forms of transport – tube, buses, overground, DLR, river services, cycling. This ‘multimodal’ approach allows everyone to travel in a way that suits them, but crucially, it all works seamlessly together. This can be true of the energy sector.
The UK has always relied on a diverse energy mix to ensure resilience, and there won’t be a single answer when it comes to net-zero, especially as we look at the more challenging parts of the economy to decarbonise.
I see huge potential in our gas infrastructure. We can enhance energy security and deliver decarbonisation while providing consumer choice, decarbonising whole communities rather than relying on individual decisions.
At SGN, we’re already harnessing renewable biomethane from organic waste. The National Energy System Operator sees biomethane providing more than a third of gas demand by 2050, and our connected biomethane capacity can already power up to 1 in 10 homes in Scotland.
We’re also leading on hydrogen. This summer, we completed a first-of-its-kind trial that demonstrated how the local gas transmission system can be repurposed to carry hydrogen. This brings opportunities for the decarbonisation of power, industry, heat and transport.
And our H100 Fife trial – the UK’s largest end-to-end green hydrogen project – will provide vital evidence on hydrogen as a safe, reliable, zero-carbon alternative to natural gas.
So, we urge government not to rule out options in its forthcoming hydrogen consultation, especially where we can reuse our modern infrastructure with minimal disruption and cost to households. Our projects show how our existing infrastructure can be a resilient backbone for a net-zero energy system, creating jobs and driving growth in the process.
We’ve invested in the gas network for decades, replacing old cast-iron mains with modern plastic pipes. It’s ready to support the energy transition. We also have the potential to use excess renewable power that can’t be stored to create green gas for our network, rather than consumers paying to turn off power as happens now.
But to do things like this, we must keep investing in our infrastructure.
Let’s not repeat the mistakes seen in the water sector, as highlighted in the Cunliffe Review. In our next five-year price control, Ofgem must ensure we can keep delivering a safe, secure, and resilient network.
There is no single solution to the energy trilemma. But our gas network is a vital part of the energy system today – and it can help accelerate the transition to a lower-carbon tomorrow.
