Blog: What the latest SIF awards tell us about the future of gas decarbonisation

Against this backdrop, the latest SIF awards offer an important insight into how policymakers and network operators are thinking about the future. Rather than focusing solely on the production of low-carbon gases, the projects increasingly address the infrastructure, storage, digitalisation and system integration challenges that will determine whether these technologies can be deployed at scale.

In many ways, the conversation is beginning to shift from whether low-carbon gases have a role in the future energy system to how they can be integrated most effectively.

At a time when hydrogen policy remains uncertain and key funding decisions are still pending, the SIF programme offers reassurance that investment in system enablers for gas decarbonisation continues.

Whole-system thinking becomes part of the puzzle

A theme emerging from this year's awards is the move towards more whole-system planning. Rather than treating electricity and gas networks in isolation, three projects this year have both gas and electricity partners focus on improving coordination across the two sectors. While more innovation in this space is still needed, these are encouraging first signs.

The FORTRESS project, led by Scottish and Southern Electricity Distribution in collaboration with Southern Gas Networks, will explore how large energy users such as hospitals can provide flexible demand services to support network resilience. Bringing together electricity, gas and healthcare partners, the project highlights how flexibility is increasingly being viewed as a cross-sector challenge, extending beyond traditional power markets to critical national infrastructure.

Similarly, Collaborate, led by Cadent and supported by National Grid Electricity Distribution, aims to improve coordination between utility companies and highway authorities to reduce disruption, lower costs and minimise carbon emissions associated with infrastructure works. While relatively modest in scale, the project reflects an important shift towards more integrated planning approaches that can unlock efficiencies across multiple networks.

Alongside this, the Network Security in a Quantum Future (NSiaQF) project, led by NESO in collaboration with National Gas Transmission and SP Energy Networks Transmission, will develop tools to identify and mitigate emerging quantum-related cyber risks across energy infrastructure. While quantum computing remains an emerging technology, the project reflects growing recognition that future low-carbon energy systems will need to be both decarbonised and resilient. As hydrogen, CCUS and increasingly digitalised networks become more interconnected, strengthening cybersecurity is becoming a critical component of long-term energy system planning.

Storage moves further up the agenda

Hydrogen storage is another area gaining prominence. The Knapton H2 Storage for H2P project, led by Northern Gas Networks, will develop storage solutions designed to support hydrogen-to-power and regional hydrogen networks.

This reflects a broader shift in emphasis. While hydrogen production has dominated early policy and investment discussions, there is growing recognition that storage and flexibility will be just as critical. As renewable generation expands, long-duration storage will be required to manage seasonal and multi-day imbalances in supply and demand. Hydrogen is increasingly being positioned as a key enabler in this balancing role, rather than purely as a fuel for end-use sectors.

This is particularly relevant for the UK, where periods of low wind generation can place significant pressure on the energy system. The ability to store large volumes of hydrogen and deploy them when needed could become a critical component of energy security alongside its decarbonisation benefits.

The role of green molecules

The Green Molecule Project, led by Southern Gas Networks, highlights continued interest in synthetic methane as part of the decarbonisation mix.

By converting surplus renewable electricity and captured carbon dioxide into methane, the project explores a pathway that can utilise existing gas infrastructure while providing a storable, dispatchable low-carbon fuel. This approach offers potential advantages in terms of system compatibility and scalability, particularly for seasonal energy storage. Rather than competing with hydrogen, synthetic methane is increasingly being considered as a complementary option within a broader low-carbon gas portfolio.

The project also reflects a wider trend emerging across Europe. As policymakers seek to maximise the value of renewable electricity and captured carbon dioxide, interest is growing in technologies that can connect the power, gas and carbon sectors. This type of sector coupling is likely to become an increasingly important feature of future energy systems.

In a similar vein, thinking about the future of low carbon gasses, the FastPress project, led by NESO, will develop a decision-support tool to help plan and repurpose Britain's gas transmission network, reflecting a growing recognition that gas infrastructure will not simply be phased out, but may be adapted to support hydrogen, biomethane, synthetic methane and potentially carbon transport for CCUS.

This shift in thinking is particularly important. Much of the debate around gas decarbonisation has focused on future fuels, but infrastructure will ultimately determine how quickly those fuels can be deployed. Projects such as FastPress recognise that repurposing existing assets could offer a more cost-effective pathway to decarbonisation than building entirely new networks.

What this signals for gas decarbonisation

Taken together, the latest SIF awards suggest a steady but important evolution in how the UK views gas within the energy transition.

Rather than signalling the decline of gas infrastructure, the programme reflects increasing interest in how it can be repurposed and integrated into a low-carbon system. Hydrogen storage, synthetic methane and digital system tools all feature prominently, alongside broader efforts to improve whole-system coordination. Crucially, this innovation activity continues despite wider policy uncertainty in hydrogen and low-carbon gases. The message from SIF is that the building blocks of a future gas system are still being actively developed, even if the final shape of that system remains uncertain.

Perhaps the clearest takeaway is that innovation is becoming less focused on individual technologies and more focused on how different technologies can work together. The future energy system will require electricity, low-carbon gases, carbon management infrastructure and digital tools to operate as a coordinated whole. The future will not be defined by a single molecule or technology, but by an interconnected system in which multiple gases, electricity and carbon flows must operate together efficiently and flexibly. The latest SIF awards suggest that, despite ongoing policy uncertainty, industry and network operators are already laying the foundations for that future.

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