Lessons Learnt from the Past : Gas Transition

Wales & West Utilities launched its findings from the Lessons Learnt : Past Energy Transitions in the Gas Industry project, conducted with WSP and Northern Gas Networks.

In the early 1960s, over 90% of the gas used in the UK was made from coal in local production plants and supplied through town and city networks. Over ten years, alongside the construction of a national system connecting regional networks, over 40 million appliances and 13 million customers were converted to natural gas from the North Sea and the world market.

As the UK works to reduce its carbon emissions, the energy industry is faced with another transition. In the 1970s, Government called the conversion “one of the smoothest operations of the kind in the world” – and this report highlights the learning that could be applied to a future transition, including replacing natural gas with clean hydrogen.