Steve Vick Win Best Innovation – Gas at the UK Energy Innovation Awards

Steve Vick International entered the UK Energy Innovation Awards 2019 and were delighted to win Best Innovation – Gas for Enhanced SEAL, a technique developed in collaboration with Northern Gas Networks.

Northern Gas Networks announced, in their recent Innovation Annual Summary, that the Enhanced SEAL technique alone, has saved Northern Gas Networks £3million in benefits to date, with greater savings still to be recognised through the development of Enhanced SEAL for tier 2 pipes.

Judging the awards was, Ian McCluskey, Head of Technical and Policy at the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers (IGEM), who said:

“Steve Vick International’s Enhanced SEAL (E-SEAL) technology is a highly innovative, long-lasting solution that addresses one of the key issues affecting the industry. Currently, the 100% abandonment of unwanted sections of gas mains is a huge challenge for the industry; it is often impractical to disconnect a redundant main directly at the tee piece and they can be located in areas where disruption caused by the work would be unacceptable, in busy sections or in sensitive areas. The E-SEAL solves these problems and the ensuing customer safety issues, whilst also having minimal impact on the customer and the public.”

The UK Energy Innovation Awards, which took place at the Titanic Hotel, Liverpool is a celebration of the good work being done to drive innovation within the utility industries. The awards were opened by Dermot Nolan, CEO of Ofgem who commented “we need more innovation from third parties and those outside the sector to help support the scale and pace of change needed to meet the demand for a net zero carbon future”.

Steve Vick have a rich history of innovation, predominantly in the gas, water and nuclear sectors, and look forward to the challenge of developing new products and techniques to help meet the net zero targets for greenhouse gas emission by 2050. For over thirty years we have worked in collaboration with gas distribution networks and other key players in the utility sectors and we plan to build on these strong relationships in order to deliver innovations that ultimately benefit the energy consumer and the environment.

Crock Harrison, Managing and Technical Director, commented, “We’re delighted to have won this prestigious award. This places Enhanced SEAL as a multi-award winning technique for Steve Vick International, having won the coveted IGEM Lion’s Lair event back in May of this year, and it’s an innovation we’re extremely proud of. We’ve been involved in several innovative projects with Northern Gas Networks to date and are currently working on more which we hope will bring novel solutions to the gas industry, allowing them to offer their customer’s the very best service at the best possible price.”