Leaders from across the energy sector gathered in London this week for a flagship event hosted by SGN that spotlighted the ideas shaping tomorrow’s energy networks.
Our Innovation Showcase: Future Proofing the Energy Transition brought together innovators, academics, researchers, industry partners, technology providers, regulators and policymakers for a deep dive into the projects redefining how the UK will power a net zero future.
Opening the event, Chief Strategy and Regulation Officer Antony Green underscored the urgency of collective action for tackling the challenges of the energy transition: “Innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. Bringing together experts from across the energy sector allows us to share learning, challenge ideas and explore solutions together. The transition to net zero is a all-system challenge and collaboration across industries will be essential.”
The event showcased the breadth of innovation activity underway across our networks, with presentations and panel discussions structured around three key themes:
Optimising today’s gas networks for tomorrow’s demands
- Special Projects Manager Joel Martin presented on reducing the propane burden on SGN’s biomethane plants. For well over a decade, we have led the way in injecting biomethane into our networks, with the equivalent of one in ten homes on mains gas now supplied by this green gas.
- Project Engineer Anna Morris presented our Real Time Settlement Methodology (RTSM) programme. The project is tackling how we can integrate more low carbon gasses into our network – with different energy by volume – while ensuring fair billing for customers.
From high-rises to heavy industry: delivering decarbonisation
- Project Manager Niyati Dave (pictured below) and our partner Daniel Jones from Guidehouse discussed Indus 2.0 – a project which will enhance whole systems strategic planning for industrial decarbonisation.
- Project Engineer Will Seccombe highligted the challenge of decarbonising multi-occupancy buildings (MOBs). With around one in five people in Britain living in MOBs we need practical pathways to decarbonise heat in these buildings without leaving customers behind.
- Futures Innovation Lead Mohanvir Singh Saran and our partner Andy Butt from Blunomy considered the gas network perspective on Carbon Capture, Usage, and Storage (CCUS) in the UK.
Imagining a whole-system future
- Project Manager Jo Tunney presented on Nuclear Enabled Hydrogen & District Heating alongside Rob Mossop from our partners Equilibrium. Together they are researching the role of nuclear energy in supporting low‑carbon hydrogen production and district heating.
- Anna returned with University of Surrey Lecturer Meshkat Dolat to present Biomethane Islands – a feasibility study investigating if Edinburgh, Inverness and Drakemyre could be fully supplied with biomethane produced via anaerobic digestion.
- SGN’s NESO Engagement Manager Colin Thomson joined John Turpin from White Space Strategy to discuss the role gas will play to ensure resilience in a whole systems future.
Find out more about how we’re investing in innovation at SGN here.
