HIGHLIGHTS | November

What’s Insidetechnology newsGas Network Innovation Competition – Awards two major future network innovation Projects �  3FCH JU project launches megawatt-scale fuel cell in China �  3Could depleted oil wells be the next step in energy storage? �  4Powering a greener future with household waste �  4gas newsEuropean Union releases its winter clean energy package �  5Facilitating renewable gas through the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive �  5New Eurogas data shows 6% increase in gas demand in 2016 �  5energy newsCarbon Capture and Storage – EU climate policy’s gaping hole �  6Global carbon intensity falls as coal use declines �  6Sweden set to launch residential energy storage scheme �  6

The contents of this document are extracted from monthly press and are not the opinions of GERG or its members.

HIGHLIGHTS

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Technology

FCH JU project launches megawatt-scale fuel cell in China

Gas Network Innovation Competition – Awards two major future network innovation Projects

A 2 MW fuel cell combined heat and power (CHP) unit was officially inaugurated in China on October 13, as part of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) project DEMCOPEM-2MW.

The CHP unit is located at the Ynnovate Sanzheng Fine Chemicals chlor-alkali plant in Yingkou, Liaoning province, and operates using the plant’s hydrogen by-product as fuel. The produced heat and electricity supply a good proportion of the plant’s own needs.

The DEMCOPEM-2MW project aims to design, construct and demonstrate an economical combined heat and power PEM fuel cell power plant (2 MW electrical power and 1.5 MW heat) and integrate it into a chlor-alkali (CA) production plant, which produces chlorine and caustic soda and high purity hydrogen.

The project will demonstrate the PEM Power Plant technology for converting the hydrogen into electricity, heat and water for use in the chlor-alkali production process, lowering its electricity consumption by 20%.

The Gas NIC is an annual opportunity for Gas network companies to compete for funding for the development and demonstration of new technologies, operating and commercial arrangements. Funding will be provided for the best innovation projects which help all network operators understand what they need to do to provide environmental benefits, cost reductions and security of supply as Great Britain (GB) moves to a low carbon economy. Up to £18 million per annum is available through the Gas NIC.

The 2016 CompetitionOFGEM received two submissions for the 2016 Gas NIC seeking a total of £11.6 million. We have selected both projects for funding.

Future Billing Methodology (National Grid Gas Distribution)Great Britain has relied predominantly on North Sea gas since the 1970s with regulations and the billing regime designed for this stable and reliable source of gas. The supply market is changing with more gases of differing qualities, such as biomethane, being injected into the network. The current billing methodology isn’t optimised to cater for significantly different quality gases. This project will develop options that may lead to new gas billing methodologies to better reflect the world of more varied gas qualities. The £5M Project is led by National Grid Distribution and will be delivered by a team led by DNVGL.

HyDeploy (National Grid Gas Distribution)The project will demonstrate on Keele University’s private network that natural gas containing levels of hydrogen (10% to 20%) beyond those permitted by the current safety standards (0.1%) can be distributed and utilised safely. The project will provide evidence to contribute towards the case for allowing increased use of hydrogen on the network. The £7M Project is led by National Grid Distribution, with support from Northern Gas Networks. The delivery team is managed by Progressive Energy with input from ITM Power, Kiwa, The UK health and Safety Lab, Otto Simon and Keele University.

Source: Europa.eu

Source: Ofgem

HIGHLIGHTS

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Technology

Could depleted oil wells be the next step in energy storage?Quidnet Energy is hoping to revolutionise energy storage with its underground pumped hydro concept, which uses abandoned oil and gas wells to store and release pressurised water, driving turbines and feeding electricity back into the grid.

As the cost of renewable energy continues to decline and intermittent clean power sources such as wind and solar gain ever an ever larger foothold in the global energy mix, the ability to store energy that can be quickly dispatched when needed has become as important as the development of renewables themselves.

US-based start-up Quidnet Energy is hoping to fill a gap in the market with an underground pumped hydro concept. The company is using rock formations in abandoned oil and gas wells to store pressurised water, which can later be run through a turbine to feed electricity back into the grid.Source: Power technology

Powering a greener future with household wasteProven technology has the potential to meet one third of the UK’s domestic heat requirements.

Construction has begun on a new green energy plant that will be the world’s first commercially viable facility to convert household waste to a green gas called bio-substitute natural gas (BioSNG) – which emits 80% less carbon dioxide than the diesel used widely in the UK.

The developers of the plant in Wiltshire, Advanced Plasma Power and National Grid Gas Distribution, say their pioneering technology has the potential to use waste to generate 100TWh of BioSNG each year if deployed nationwide. This could fulfil one third of the UK’s annual heating requirements or power all of the UK’s heavy goods vehicles.

BioSNG can be used in existing appliances, such as boilers and cookers, and distributed in existing gas networks – as well as in transport – representing a major step forward in decarbonising the energy system. Whilst the power generation sector has made huge progress towards decarbonisation in recent years, decarbonising heat and transport – worth 74% of energy usage – has proved a more stubborn challenge, and is an established government priority.

The first plant, near Swindon, will take in 10,000 tonnes of waste from the local area and produce 22GWh of BioSNG, enough to heat 1,500 homes. It will also reduce emissions of harmful greenhouse gases by 5,000 tonnes per annum. Utilising waste in this way allows extra value to be derived from a product that could otherwise have been sent to landfill. The £25m facility is funded by an £11m grant from the Department for Transport’s Advanced Biofuels Competition, as well as Ofgem’s Network Innovation Competition and the project partners.

The plant also brings jobs and investment to the local area, with 50 roles created during the construction phase and additional full time skilled jobs once operational from 2018 onwards.

The pioneering technology has been developed at a £5m pilot plant in Swindon, a joint project between National Grid, Advanced Plasma Power and Progressive Energy.Source: Go Green Gas

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Gas NewsHIGHLIGHTs

Facilitating renewable gas through the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive

European Union releases its winter clean energy package

The European Commission will soon launch a legislative proposal on the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC). This statement sets out the reasons why renewable gases can play a critical role in the decarbonisation of Europe’s energy mix and then lists specific items that should be included in the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED II). Together we represent biogas and hydrogen producers, gas infrastructure operators, gas suppliers and vehicle manufacturers.

Renewable gases can be produced through several different processes and can be created using many different sources of energy. Typical examples include biogas made from anaerobic digestion and gasification or green hydrogen produced from renewable electricity. By treating the renewable gas to meet the required specifications, it can be injected into the gas grid, stored easily and delivered directly to the consumer. In 2013, Europe produced approximately 14 mtoe of renewable gas, enough to heat approximately 11 million homes and this production could be at least trebled by 2030. The benefits of renewable gasses are many and can be found here.

Quick and efficient climate gains only with gas Brussels, 30 November 2016: Today’s ‘Clean Energy for All Europeans’ package, published by the European Commission just weeks after the Paris Agreement entered into force, is an important piece in the legislative framework needed to achieve the EU and global climate targets in an Energy Union. Gas provides important solutions to the many challenges tackled in the package. “Be it electricity market design, energy efficiency, renewables or the energy performance of buildings, natural gas and renewable gas hold the key to cost-effective solutions,” says Eurogas Secretary General Beate Raabe. “For example, by using natural gas instead of coal in power generation, 50% of carbon dioxide emissions are saved – instantly and in crucial years before renewables can achieve this. At the same time, an increasing share of electricity from renewables is supported and backed up with the highest efficiency - up to 90%, if the heat is used, too - and the needed flexibility is provided to compensate for the variability of certain renewable sources. There are clear opportunities in enhanced gas use”, she says.Extract from the Eurogas Press Release.

The package can be found here.

Source: CEDEC

Source: Eurogas

New Eurogas data shows 6% increase in gas demand in 2016Initial estimates for 2016, published by Eurogas today, suggest that gas consumption in the EU-28 was4 828.4 terawatt-hours gross calorific value (TWh GCV), equivalent to 447.1 billion cubic metres (bcm) or373.7 million tonnes of oil equivalent net calorific value (mtoe NCV).1 These latest estimates are the result of an annual survey covering approximately 85% of the EU gas market and carried out by Eurogas, the association representing the European gas wholesale, retail and distribution sectors.

One important factor for this rise is the increased use of gas in power generation in a number of countries such as France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. In France, for example, gas demand in this sector doubled in the first half of the year, compared with the same period last year. In Germany, several new gas fired power plants have started to operate due to the competitive price. This increase in the use of gas in power generation is also a quick and cost-effective way to reduce GHG emissions substantially. Source: Eurogas

HIGHLIGHTS EnErGy nEwS

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Global carbon intensity falls as coal use declines

Sweden set to launch residential energy storage scheme

The amount of carbon needed to power the global economy fell to record lows in 2015, as coal consumption in major economies plummeted.

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) annual Low Carbon Economy Index report has found that the global carbon intensity (emissions per unit of GDP) fell by 2.8%.

This was more than double the average fall of 1.3% between 2000 and 2014, but far below the 6.5% required to stay within the 2C warming limit set by last year’s Paris agreement.

The result was just 0.1% lower than the previous year, but it occurred against the background of healthy growth, which usually spurs carbon emissions growth. The biggest driver was a decline in China’s coal consumption, which resulted a 6.4% drop the carbon intensity of the world’s second biggest economy.

Sweden has introduced a new support system to facilitate the deployment of home energy storage systems. The new scheme, which comes into effect in November, will cover up to 60 percent of system costs, up to a maximum of SEK 50,000 (US$5,600).

Under terms of the scheme, financing can go towards the battery, wiring, control systems, smart energy hubs and installation work for houses with solar PV systems.

Andreas Gustafsson, program manager within the Research and Innovation Department of the Swedish Energy Agency, told Renewable Energy World: “The scheme represents a complementary support system to the existing scheme supporting solar PV generation in Sweden. It’s one step, but an important step towards establishing a smart, distributed grid based around clean, renewable energy.”

Motivating the scheme is Sweden’s commitment to becoming entirely free from fossil fuels in electricity generation by 2040.

Source: The Guardian

Source: Renewable Energy World

Carbon Capture and Storage – EU climate policy’s gaping holeThe global cost of the mitigation measures necessary to keep atmospheric CO2 concentration levels by 2100 to 450ppm will increase by 138% unless CCS is deployed, pronounced the IPCC in its 2014 synthesis report.It continued: “Many models cannot reach 450ppm CO2-equivalent concentration by 2100 in the absence of carbon capture and storage.”

A cost increase of 138% is not something that should easily be dismissed, but it has been. Within the EU only the Dutch government is still actively supporting plans for a CCS demonstration project.

Why has CCS not taken off across Europe? EU governments have had it easy so far. The real challenge in reducing emissions will not be to meet the 2030 targets but to fulfil the ambitions for 2050 and beyond. When governments are required to prepare plans for this they may start to appreciate the need to invest in CCS.Source: Euractiv