SGN Natural Gas shortlisted for Network Awards 2020

SGN Natural Gas has been announced as a finalist in the prestigious Network Awards 2020 which celebrate the industry's finest people and projects transforming the energy future across the UK.

The SGN Natural Gas network was shortlisted in the ‘Engineering Project of the Year’ category for the development of the state-of-the-art new infrastructure delivering natural gas to eight towns in the western area of Northern Ireland.

The winners will be announced at a gala awards ceremony in Birmingham on 17 March when the UK’s gas, power and heat networks will recognise, celebrate and reward the people, teams, projects and innovations that have helped shape the industry.

The recent delivery of the SGN Natural Gas network to the gateways of all the target towns is a major milestone for what is widely regarded as one of the most significant energy infrastructure projects across Northern Ireland in a generation. 

David Butler, Head of Engineering with SGN Natural Gas said: “The Network Awards showcase the good work taking place across the energy sector. We are delighted to have been shortlisted as finalists in the ‘Engineering Project of the Year’ category for delivering the SGN Natural Gas network.”

He explained: “The project broke new ground in terms of scale and complexity and required a diverse range of engineering techniques to connect a number of urban areas in the west of Northern Ireland to a newly installed gas network through a combination of High Pressure (HP) and Intermediate Pressure (IP) pipe works.”

“The overall IP project consisted of 142km of pipeline installed using a mixture of traditional open-cut and horizontal directional drilling method. The majority of this work was constructed in a mix of A and C class carriageway across a large swathe of rural and urban areas. This involved navigating through areas where extremes of adjacent rock and bog marshes were commonplace, so route planning and pre-work surveying were vital to meeting deadlines.” 

“Around 25 off-road and 20 on-road river crossings - many of major environmental significance - were successfully completed along with over 200 smaller crossings. On a project scale more akin to that found on a large transmission pipeline construction spread, the techniques used ranged from horizontal directional drilling methods for the majority of crossings - including two crossings of Lough Erne - to auger bores for some of the other major rivers.”

“The techniques utilised in construction, combined with the choice of carriageway construction has ultimately delivered the most efficient and cost-effective solution for gas consumers and the wider community in Northern Ireland.”

The Network Awards 2020 feature a range of categories open to network operators, the supply chain, contractors and local authorities who are involved in shaping the energy system. The judging is carried out by an independent panel of industry experts and the winners, including overall Network of the Year award, will be announced at the event held in the Hilton Birmingham Metropole on 17 March.