This report will explore the following key questions facing the UK gas supply and distribution industry:
What have been the patterns in gas consumption by key end-use industries in recent years?
What are the projections for annual gas demand by key end-use industries up to 2035?
What are the drivers for capital investment in the gas supply and distribution industry?
How do environmental legislation and regulations affect the industry?
What are the key issues facing the gas supply sector?
Definitions
The terms of reference for this report concern the UK gas distribution and supply sector, comprising the downstream activities of supply to the industrial, commercial and domestic sectors.
A number of industry specific phrases are used in this report, which are defined below:
| Beach gas | Gas available at an onshore reception terminal after arriving from offshore production. |
| Interruptible gas sales | Sale of gas at reduced prices, where supply can be cut off for a number of days each year to assist in the balancing of peak supply and demand. |
| Kilowatt | One thousand watts. |
| Megawatt | One million watts (one thousand kilowatts). |
| Gigawatt | One thousand megawatts. |
| Terawatt | One thousand gigawatts. |
One billion refers to one thousand million.
Some numbers in tables may not add due to rounding.
Capex includes expenditure on investment in longlived network assets, such as underground cables, overhead electricity lines and substations.
Repex refers to replacement expenditure required by gas distribution companies to comply with the Health and Safety Executives (HSE's) Mains Replacement Programme.
Methodology
Reports are researched and written by MBD’s in-house, specialist business-to-business consultants. Research is based on both an analysis of official information and on original trade research, providing both a quantitative and qualitative view of the market. MBD’s unique range of frequently updated reports provide an integrated body of ongoing research, enabling deep understanding of the prevailing trends and of the drivers of these trends based on trade opinion.
Abbreviations
The following abbreviations have been used in this report:
| ACE | Association for the Conservation of Energy |
| bcm | billion cubic meters |
| Capex | Capital expenditure |
| CCA | Climate Change Agreements |
| CCGT | Catalytic Combustion Gas Turbine |
| CCL | Climate Change Levy |
| CDM | Clean Development Mechanism |
| CERT | Carbon Emission Reduction Target |
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