Energy regulator Ofgem has begun to work on a digital system to support the proposed Green Gas Support Scheme (GGSS).
It has been named by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy as the intended administrator for the scheme, which is aimed at increasing the proportion of green gas in the national grid through the injection of biomethane.
The regulator has identified the need for a system to support regular tariff payments to participants, enabling them to provide all the supporting evidence and submit applications online. This would involve the development of a self-service portal and access to a payments schedule.
It has carried some internal user research and is currently in discovery phase for the project, carrying out external research.
Ofgem has published a market notice for support in the project and is aiming to have a minimum viable product in place, based on the Microsoft Azure platform, by October 2021.
Gas from biomethane has been identified as providing a source of renewable heat, in contrast to unrenewable natural gas. But it is currently significantly more expensive and increasing its usage requires financial support from government to the producers.
Image from Milosz1, CC BY 2.0
