We are Northern Gas Networks (NGN), the gas distributor for the North of England. We keep 2.9 million homes and businesses cooking on gas, through our vast underground pipe network.
About us
We are committed to providing a safe, reliable and great value service to our customers and stakeholders, while developing new technologies to deliver forms of low carbon energy, such as hydrogen, to support a greener future.
Innovation underpins everything we do – whether we are replacing pipes, fixing gas escapes, developing low carbon energy solutions or supporting our most vulnerable customers.
heating 2.9 million homes in our region
By thinking differently, listening to our colleagues and stakeholders, working closely with our partners and considering our communities, we are pushing the boundaries of what a utility company is capable of.
About this document
NGN receives funding from our regulator, Ofgem, which allows us to take forward innovation projects that will contribute to addressing challenges faced by vulnerable customers and facilitate the energy systems transition to a greener future.
In RIIO-1 we led successful innovation projects across both the Network Innovation Allowance (NIA) and Network Innovation Competition (NIC).
The RIIO-2 settlement saw a continuation of NIA, with the NIC superseded by the new Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF).
This report covers how we’ve used both our NIA and SIF funds in the 2023/24 regulatory year to undertake essential research and identify opportunities to develop new products, methodologies and services.
It also demonstrates how we have continued to build on our evolving culture of innovation at NGN, investing in market-ready solutions and developing new ways of working into our business-as-usual operations.
At the heart of all our activity is our focus to support customers in vulnerable situations, and we have increased collaboration with other gas and electricity network licensees, to ensure that all elements that may impact our customers are assessed.
