Britain awards £594,862 to develop smarter biomethane grid access
UK Research and Innovation announced £594,862 for Green Gas Access on 8 October 2026, through Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF). Southern Gas Networks leads the project, alongside Cadent Gas, DNV Services UK and Grissan Engineering & Technical Services. It is an Alpha-stage award, under the programme’s green-gas challenge.[1]
SIF is a competitive, network-led innovation programme within Ofgem’s regulated network price controls, delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. Established in 2021 with an initial £450 million programme, it supports innovations intended to deliver benefits for energy-network consumers. It now provides a progression from Discovery feasibility studies, through Alpha proof-of-concept development and Beta demonstration, to a separate Deployment phase.[2]
Alpha projects can run for up to eight months under the current programme framework. Further demonstration and deployment remain separate steps.
Ofgem’s assessment identifies four concrete technical elements. The design therefore addresses both expected gas availability and the operational processes needed to manage it.[3]
From manual processes to data-informed decisions
In practical terms, the intended shift is from managing an expanding population of entry sites through comparatively manual processes towards more consistent, data-informed decisions. SGN’s original description also emphasised dynamic supply modelling, scenario planning and more efficient integration of new suppliers.[4]
The potential benefit is not simply a better map of connection opportunities, but
Open tooling, not a proprietary platform
The project also commits to vendor-neutral documentation and shareable, open-source Python workbooks, rather than dependence on a proprietary platform. This could make replication across networks easier, although adoption will still require operational validation and integration.[3]
Improved forecasting does not create an outlet for a sustained local gas surplus. Where pressure management alone is insufficient, physical measures may still be needed.