The United Kingdom’s energy sector will need to transition in coming decades to meet national greenhouse gas reduction targets. That transition will require a transformation of the nation’s energy networks, the U.K. Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) said in a report Tuesday. “Currently, most of the UK’s energy is moved around the country, and sometimes beyond, by electricity and gas networks, and the liquid fuel supply system (e.g. petrol and diesel),” the report says. “The roles of these networks will inevitably change as the ways in which we provide and consume energy evolve and as other networks emerge.”
The shift in the nation’s energy networks will be dictated by the path chosen to transition the energy system. “Choices need to be made about which networks to build, develop, maintain or decommission, as well as where and when to do so. As networks can take years or even decades to build, the right decisions must be made ahead of need,” ETI said.
The report considers two transition scenarios, one led by national action and one by local-level action. With action largely at the national level, large-scale investments in nuclear power generation and fossil fuel power generation with carbon capture and storage are possible. “This scenario also sees significant deployment of large scale heat networks in tandem with a phased shut-down of the local gas distribution network,” according to the report.
In contrast, when action is taken at the local level in a patchwork fashion across the nation, renewables reign, according to the report. Under such a scenario: “The gas distribution network is decommissioned in some areas and retained in others where gas boilers are used as backup to heat pumps or a partial decarbonisation of the gas supply takes place. Small and medium-scale heat networks are deployed in some towns and cities.”