Centrica signs UK Biomethane Agreement with Yorkshire Water and SGN Commercial Services

24 July 2023

Centrica

Media Relations

LONDON & AALBORG: Yorkshire Water, an essential water and wastewater services provider for the Yorkshire Region, and Centrica Energy Trading, have today announced signing a 15-year agreement to offtake biomethane production and manage shipping, trading, and balancing of production from two plants developed by SGN Commercial Services.

SGN, a leading manager of natural gas and green gas distribution networks in Scotland and the south of England will design, develop and operate the biomethane gas-to-grid sites, which once operational, will produce approximately 125GWh of biomethane annually — enough to heat more than 10,000 UK households.

"This agreement marks an important milestone for Centrica’s biomethane activities in the UK. Having recently expanded our capabilities to handle trading, nomination, and transportation of green gas in the UK market, we’re working to accelerate biomethane production across Europe."

Kristian Gjerløv-Juel, Director for Renewable Energy Trading and Optimisation

Biogas will be produced as a by-product of Yorkshire Water’s sewage wastewater treatment processes, where Centrica will offtake production from the site and subsequently manage shipping, trading, and balancing of the green gas. Biomethane will be injected into the UK grid to displace natural gas, providing cleaner and more resilient gas supplies that reduces dependency on outside energy imports.

Building on over 20 years of experience and their leading position in the Danish biomethane market, as an established market participant Centrica provides the scale and trading expertise necessary to deliver as a long-term stable partner for Yorkshire Water. Pursuing an ambitious commercial strategy to grow biomethane activities, Centrica is working to deliver an important contribution to accelerating biomethane production across Europe and the UK, supporting the ambitions set in REPowerEU to grow production of biomethane from 30TWh to 340TWh by 2030.

"We’re excited to be working alongside SGN Commercial Services and Centrica Energy Trading to make best use of the biogas Yorkshire Water produces through sewage treatment. We already benefit from biogas-fueled renewable energy generation, but this project demonstrates our commitment to using markets to improve our operational efficiency, reduce customer bills and facilitate carbon emissions reductions in the wider economy."

Tom Hall, Head of Bioresources, Yorkshire Water

Kristian Gjerløv-Juel, Director for Renewable Energy Trading and Optimisation at Centrica Energy Trading commented: “This agreement marks an important milestone for Centrica’s biomethane activities in the UK. Having recently expanded our capabilities to handle trading, nomination, and transportation of green gas in the UK market, we’re working to accelerate biomethane production across Europe and using our capabilities to help businesses deliver on their green procurement strategies and reduce emissions.”

Tom Hall, Head of Bioresources at Yorkshire Water, said: “We’re excited to be working alongside SGN Commercial Services and Centrica Energy Trading to make best use of the biogas Yorkshire Water produces through sewage treatment. We already benefit from biogas-fueled renewable energy generation, but this project demonstrates our commitment to using markets to improve our operational efficiency, reduce customer bills and facilitate carbon emissions reductions in the wider economy.”

NOTES

About Centrica

Centrica is a leading international energy services and solutions provider, founded on a 200-year heritage of serving people. We serve around 10 million customers across the UK, Ireland and continental Europe through brands such as British Gas. We are focused on satisfying the changing needs of our customers, enabling them to transition to a lower carbon future.

Centrica Energy Trading A/S, part of Centrica’s Energy Marketing and Trading business unit is the trading and optimisation arm of Centrica plc. We are a leading provider of energy management and optimisation services to businesses, in addition to managing commodity risk and providing wholesale market access for the Centrica Group. We have 16.5GW of capacity under contract in Europe, more than 85% of which is renewable assets.

About Yorkshire Water

We’re Yorkshire Water. The people trusted to take care of Yorkshire’s most valuable natural resource. On the surface, it sounds simple. We manage and look after the region’s water. But water is not quite like anything else. We’re not like any other business – and nowhere is quite like Yorkshire. Our work means much more than just supplying clean drinking water, taking away wastewater and looking after the region’s coast and countryside. We’re an integral part of Yorkshire life and millions of people who live and work here rely upon us, every single day.

We look after communities, protect the environment and plan ahead to look after Yorkshire’s water, today, tomorrow, always. 24/7, 365, we provide essential water and wastewater services to every corner of the Yorkshire region and play a key role in the region’s health, wellbeing and prosperity. That means over 5 million customers, and the millions of people who visit Yorkshire each year rely on us, every day. 140,000 businesses also depend upon the water we supply and the wastewater we take away to provide goods and services that support the economy – not only in Yorkshire, but across the United Kingdom and beyond.

About SGN

SGN Commercial Services is part of the SGN group, who own and operate the gas distribution networks in the south of England, across Scotland and in the west of Northern Ireland. The Group provides a wide-range of specialist and gas-related professional services, operating throughout the UK. SGN’s safety-first culture provides bespoke commercial services and green gas solutions to the Group’s clients, allowing them to better meet their business needs today and in the future.