British gas supplier and network operator National Gas Transmission has secured funding from the UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem, to explore a new type of underground hydrogen storage as the company looks to shift to hydrogen to meet the country’s net-zero targets.

The funding will come from Ofgem’s £450m SIF, a fund for supporting “ambitious, innovative” energy projects that could speed up the transition to net zero.

The new technology – called H2FlexiStore – has been developed by Edinburgh energy storage company Gravitricity. It uses the Earth’s natural geology to store up to 100 tonnes of pressurised hydrogen in a lined underground rock shaft, the company said in an emailed statement.