As part of a pioneering project to repurpose our natural gas pipelines for hydrogen, we working on the A904 Bo’ness Road
Hydrogen offers a way to achieve the scale and volumes needed to deliver zero-carbon heat and transport energy. Our LTS (Local Transmission System) Futures project aims to validate the compatibility of using the existing gas network to carry hydrogen, by repurposing a 30km natural gas pipeline between Grangemouth and Granton that's no longer in use, paving the way for hydrogen transportation on a national scale.
After consultation with Falkirk Council, the construction phase of our project will started in early May. It will involve the building of a new 1.2km hydrogen supply pipeline, linking the existing Grangemouth to Granton pipeline to the hydrogen source at the INEOS Grangemouth facility. All being well, this should take approximately six months to complete.
Temporary traffic lights will be in place for the duration of the project to ensure continued traffic flow in both directions of the A904. The temporary lights will be manually controlled during peak travel periods to reduce disruption as much as possible.
UPDATE: 11 OCTOBER 2024
We’re making great strides with the installation of our new hydrogen pipeline along the A904 Bo’ness Road in Grangemouth.
So far, we've laid 600 metres of the 1.2km supply line. During this work, we successfully passed INEOS Gate 7, a very busy access point for our partners INEOS. We also navigated around a culvert filled with complex existing infrastructure.
Next up is crossing the Avon Bridge. We’ll do this by threading our new 3-inch pipeline through an old, unused 16-inch gas main. This approach not only keeps our teams safer, but it also spares the community the disruption of closing the road due to the multiple excavations that would be required.
Once we’ve completed work along Bo’ness Road, we’ll carry out a horizontal directional drilling (HDD) procedure. This will connect the new pipeline to the transmission line for our hydrogen trial set for next year. The HDD process will allow us to carefully avoid existing underground assets, and much of the pipeline needed to do this is already welded and prepped.
Welding the pipe for the HDD process
The support of the Grangemouth community and beyond is invaluable as we work together to build a sustainable future. We'd like to thank you for your patience and understanding as we carry out this world first project.