Research and testing
Research and testing for the live trial.
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A cleaner future for your gas network
The Local Transmission System (LTS) is an 11,600km network of high-pressure natural gas pipelines and connects the National Transmission System (NTS) to towns, cities, and industrial clusters. Think of the NTS like a motorway and the LTS like the A roads which connect to it.
SGN owns and operates the LTS across Scotland and Southern England, ensuring a safe and reliable gas supply to all our customers, every day. As we introduce more green gases into the network, we must continue to carry out all our work in the same safe and reliable way we do today.
It isn’t just our homes that use natural gas; industries such as food and drink manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, and building materials all rely on a stable and secure supply of natural gas directly from the LTS.
If the LTS could carry hydrogen instead of natural gas, it would be a major step towards net zero.
What is LTS Futures?
Our £29.9 million LTS Futures project has tested and demonstrated the compatibility of the LTS for transporting hydrogen. We demonstrated this by repurposing a representative 30km pipeline, which runs from Grangemouth to Granton. During our trial, we added two new connections to the pipeline through ‘live hot works’. This was a world first as live welding, and ‘hot tapping’ have never been completed before on an in-service hydrogen pipeline.
The findings of LTS Futures will now create a blueprint for repurposing the LTS network to hydrogen and inform the UK Government’s Energy Policy decisions.
LTS Futures comprised 4 elements:
- Research and testing
- Preparation for repurposing
- Live trial
- Knowledge dissemination
You can find out more on the pages below.