Progressive Energy Limited (PEL) has appointed Kent to develop a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) design to deliver hydrogen at the correct specification and availability for Cadent’s proposed Hydrogen Village project, the first ever in the UK and one of two shortlisted by the UK Government.

The primary purpose of the Hydrogen Village project is to demonstrate how to facilitate the decarbonisation of home and commercial heating by replacing domestic natural gas supply with hydrogen using existing local gas pipes.

Hydrogen demonstration projects, are part of the plan to reduce household and commercial CO₂ emissions to reach the UK’s 2050 net zero targets. Kent’s scope of work for this project will include:

Develop the FEED design for a Hydrogen Supply compound, which will handle Hydrogen before it is injected into a pipeline to supply Whitby Village in Ellesmere Port.
Provide sufficient Hydrogen buffer storage to meet intraday design peak and comply with all Safety regulations.
Develop FEED design for supporting infrastructure and utilities, ensuring the required resilience of the Hydrogen supply to Whitby.

In November 2020, the UK Government set out in its Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution the ambition to support a “Village Trial” of 100% Hydrogen for use in home heating to commence in 2025. The overall contract for the Village sits with Cadent.