The government has sanctioned plans to widen quality limits on gas that can be accepted into the UK grid in a bid to shore up energy security and boost North Sea supplies.
The relaxing of rules would mean gas with a lower calorific value can be accepted into the national transmission system (NTS) and mixed with other supplies.
The move has been welcomed by operators such as Neptune Energy, which has long lobbied for the change that would allow it to expand production from assets such as its Cygnus field without the need to blend in higher quality gas to meet standards.
At present, large volumes of gas produced in the UK North Sea fall just outside existing specification and must be blended with other types of gas before entering the NTS.
Entry specifications are calculated based on the Wobbe index – a method used to compare the combustion energy output of different fuel gases – with new provisions lowering the limit from greater or equal to 47.2 MJ/m3 to 46.5 MJ/m3.
Changes will be made through the Gas Safety (Management) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 which come into force from 6 April 2023, though the injection of lower-index gas supplies will only change on 6 April 2025.
Liquified natural gas (LNG) import facilities will also be subject to the requirements set down by the regulations, the Health and Safety Executive said.
Despite the change, domestic users are not expected to notice the difference.
A spokesman for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero told the Daily Telegraph last week that the move was “a positive change contributing towards the UK’s energy independence”.
A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive also said: “We assessed the potential to widen the gas specification and we are satisfied that the changes can be made without adverse impacts on health and safety of users.”
Neptune boon
Neptune welcomed the move, which it said would reduce the UK’s reliance on “higher carbon, higher cost and less secure imported gas” and support the country’s aim of energy independence by 2040.
The changes will also bring the UK in line with many other countries in Europe, including Germany, the Netherlands and Poland, it added.
Neptune UK country director, Alan Muirhead, said: “When enacted, the change will remove decades-old constraints on the energy industry that curtailed the supply of lower carbon North Sea gas.
“It will enable Neptune to export more gas from our operated Cygnus gas facility in the UK southern North Sea, which is capable of supplying 6% of the UK’s gas demand – enough to heat two million homes.
“Moreover, it sends a positive signal to UK gas producers, encouraging infrastructure investments that can unlock additional gas supplies in the future.”
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