Martyn Bridges, director of technical communication and product management at Worcester Bosch said: 'We are delighted to see proposals for such a substantial investment into preparing the existing gas infrastructure for a switch to hydrogen.

'If the Zero Carbon Commitment package is approved by the government and Ofgem it will be a massive step forward for the decarbonisation of heating and hot water in this country

'Like the research that was released to coincide with this announcement shows, the UK will not be able to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 without the key player that is technology. The commitment by the Energy Networks Association will put us on the right track to reach net zero 2050.'