Hydrogen admixture to the natural gas grid

It is becoming more widely accepted that hydrogen could become an important energy carrier in the quest for sustainability because it offers several benefits related particularly to the potential for energy storage. Natural gas pipelines can potentially offer a solution to the storage problem by accepting and transporting small quantities of hydrogen, up to 10 vol%, mixed with the natural gas. However for this approach to be accepted by both the gas industry and the public, the end result must be a technically feasible, economically viable and, crucially, safe system for storage, transportation, and utilization. It’s clear that the European natural gas pipeline network has the potential to offer such a solution in what is known as power-to-gas (P2G) and several studies have examined the feasibility of using it as a means of widespread hydrogen storage and transportation. They have concluded that the volume of hydrogen that may be added to natural gas is limited and, with certain restrictions, admixture of up to 10 vol% is in general not critical, although a case-by-case analysis is necessary before injecting hydrogen in the natural gas network. There are however some crucial aspects in the interaction between hydrogen and the wider natural gas network for which additional R&D will be necessary to achieve a robust solution before this practice can be introduced universally, in particular: compressed natural gas tanks, gas turbines, and underground storage. It’s clear that P2G can offer viable storage solutions to the expensive and uncomfortable problems of over-production of renewably generated electricity and Europe could benefit significantly from using the enormous storage capacity of the European natural gas system. A considerable amount of R&D will be necessary to bring this to fruition, however, many believe that P2G can provide a significant storage solution and have already begun to act.