We look after the gas pipes in your area

Our North West network sits between the Pennines and the West Coast, and encompasses Ambleside in Cumbria, at its northernmost tip, and Whitchurch in the South.

Around 40% of the gas distributed into the North West network is used for businesses and industrial purposes; this is far higher than any other gas distribution network in the UK.

Upgrading our gas network

In the North West, we maintain a network of more than 21,000 miles of underground pipes and hundreds of above ground stations that deliver gas to 2.7 million homes, hospitals, schools, industry and other buildings, safely and reliably.

To put that into context, 21,000 miles is roughly equivalent to the distance from North West England to Sydney, Australia, and back again, with some left over. We also invest around £70 million every year in upgrading our older gas mains, some of which have been around since the 1800s. Where possible, we embrace new technology to carry out our work faster and more efficiently, including using robotics to upgrade the gas pipes remotely.

The Mersey Tunnels were constructed in the 1960s, and provide access to our assets which provide gas to many customers living and working in Manchester and Liverpool. We plan to invest £753,000 to proactively refurbish these assets and ensure a reliable gas supply to these cities now and in the future.

Using hydrogen to remove CO2 from the gas network: HyNet

We are working with our partners at Progressive Energy on HyNet, a significant clean growth opportunity for the UK.

We need to find a way to reduce or completely remove carbon dioxide from the UK gas network. At the same time, we continue to need power for the industries on which our economy relies. The HyNet project, which aims to produce hydrogen locally in the Liverpool-Manchester area, is designed to show at scale how we can meet the major challenges of reducing carbon emissions from industry, domestic heat and transport.

HyNet is based on the production of hydrogen from natural gas, using a process called steam methane reforming to convert natural gas into clean-burning hydrogen gas. The CO2 stored in the natural gas could then be stored in offshore gas reservoirs that are no longer used.

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Decarbonising transport

We are proud partners of CNG Fuels, and are supporting them to connect more and more CNG refuelling stations to the gas grid, so fleet operators can benefit from the carbon reductions of using gas to power heavy transport. We supported the development of the Warrington refuelling station, Europe’s largest refuelling station for low carbon biomethane in trucks.

We have led the way in trialling motorbikes as part of our emergency response work, enabling our engineers to get to gas leaks up to 50% faster in busy urban areas – and with lower emissions. We are also adding electric motorbikes to our fleet, so we can further reduce our emissions while keeping the gas flowing safely and reliably to communities in the North West.

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Our West Midlands network is centred on the UK’s second largest metropolitan area of Birmingham, and includes a number of smaller urban areas.

The individual nature of each urban area ranges from towns like Telford, a fairly new town with relatively new network assets, to Stoke-on-Trent, which has a significant proportion of steel gas mains to negate the effects of ground movement due to historical mining activities. This level of new infrastructure means we are less focused on reactive work and more on maintenance activities.

Greener gas for a Net Zero future: HyDeploy

As the first ever live demonstration of hydrogen in homes, HyDeploy aims to prove that blending up to 20% hydrogen with natural gas is a safe and greener alternative to the gas we use now.

To meet the Government’s target to reduce CO2 emissions by 100% by 2050, we need to make significant changes to the way we use energy and produce it. The HyDeploy project, based at Keele University in Staffordshire, is providing evidence on how customers won’t have to change their cooking or heating appliances to take a hydrogen blend, which means less cost and less disruption.

Findings also indicate that customers don’t notice any difference when using the hydrogen blend. This evidence will be used to develop a policy framework to roll hydrogen out across the gas network, helping to radically reduce carbon emissions.

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Supporting low-carbon transport

Across the West Midlands, we are working with partners in both the private and public sector to support the uptake of alternatively fuelled vehicles and to reduce harmful emissions.

We are currently working with our partners CNG Fuels to develop a number of CNG refuelling stations, which will help heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) to reduce their carbon emissions by as much as 80% when compared to diesel. We are also researching how we can support the development of a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for the West Midlands, enabling zero emissions vehicles.

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Celebrating our local community: Coventry City of Culture

With our headquarters in Coventry, we are proud to be sponsoring Coventry City of Culture.

As well as helping to contribute towards the 2021 cultural programme across the city and the wider region, we are helping Coventry City of Culture to showcase the local environment and low-carbon technologies that the city has to offer.

Our teams are working alongside the organising committee and Coventry City Council to make sure that we minimise any potential disruption from our pipe repairs or replacements during 2021.

Eastern is our largest network, serving 4 million customers across East Midlands and East Anglia, with many customers in rural locations from Humberside down through Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

Our Eastern network also serves customers in the relatively high-density cities of Sheffield in the north, Derby, Nottingham and Leicester and Cambridge in the south, as well as customers in the north of London, including Tottenham.

Supporting the rollout of green gas: Biomethane connections

Meeting the Net Zero challenge is a key aspiration for Cadent, which we are tackling head-on in our Eastern network.

We are leading the way on delivering low-carbon, green gases to businesses and homes through our work with partners to connect biomethane production facilities to our network. We now have over 20 biomethane production facilities connected to our network, with more scheduled to begin feeding into the gas grid.

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Enhancing the benefits of green gas: Future Billing Methodology

Working with our partners, we are delivering our UK-leading Future Billing Methodology project.

This innovative piece of work takes advantage of the relatively large amount of biomethane fed into our network across the East, and allows us to study the behaviour of green gas once it enters the network.

When complete, the valuable information we are generating will allow us to better understand how green gas flows through the network, informing policy decisions about how customers are billed for green gas, and potentially enhancing the environmental benefits that green gas brings.

Hydrogen in South Yorkshire

In South Yorkshire, the most northerly point of our Eastern network, we are working with Arup and other public and private sector partners on the development and delivery of a hydrogen strategy for the region.

We are exploring the existing energy system within South Yorkshire, and seeking to develop a plan as to how hydrogen could play a major role in decarbonising the region as we move towards Net Zero.

Our North London network has the largest population of homes in multi-storey buildings in the UK. While London is stacked high, our gas network is buried deep beneath, with pipes going back hundreds of years.

The network extends from Central London, covering north of the River Thames, to High Wycombe in the west and Southend-on-Sea in the east.

Ensuring a safe and reliable network for the most high-profile buildings in the country

Our employees in North London work tirelessly to ensure the gas keeps flowing safely and reliably to some of the most high-profile buildings in the country.

Our North London network consists of more than 20,000km of pipe, which ensures that around 2.3 million people are kept safe, warm and connected. It serves high-profile, world famous locations including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Canary Wharf, Slough Trading Estate and Windsor Castle.

Championing innovation and collaborative working to keep the capital moving

London is one of the busiest cities in the world, and we pride ourselves on taking on the challenge of undertaking our works while doing all we can to keep disruption to a minimum.

To do this, we have adopted an innovative and collaborative approach to our work, which has seen us partner with other utility and infrastructure partners and use hi-tech robotics to undertake work wherever we can. By collaborating and engaging with residents, businesses and stakeholders, we strive to plan, communicate and execute our works in the most efficient and effective way possible.

Cleaner, greener vehicles for a Net Zero future

We all know how harmful carbon and pollutant emissions from transport can be to public health, especially in urban areas. We have therefore committed to make every one of the 1,100 vans used by our emergency engineers zero emissions by 2026. The first new additions to our fleet are now on the road in London – keep your eyes peeled for our electric vans and hydrogen cars when you’re out and about.

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