Partnerships are a great way forward to enable decarbonisation of the gas sector. ENTSOG’s Members - the gas TSOs - are engaging in new partnerships and initiatives and are actively working together with various private stakeholders on projects aimed to offer sustainable solutions for the gas sector and of the whole EU economy. The Gas for Climate Initiative is one example of one such partnership group.
A large scale CO₂ transport and storage service, the Aramis project is a cooperation between TotalEnergies, Shell, Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) and Nederlandse Gasunie, aims to make a significant contribution to the energy transition by reducing CO₂ emissions for the hard-to-abate industries. It will do this by offering a decarbonisation solution for the industrial sectors by enabling the transport of CO₂ to depleted offshore gas fields under the North Sea.
The Northern Lights PCI is a commercial ship-based CO2 cross-border transport network. It connects European carbon capture initiatives with permanent carbon storage infrastructure under the Norwegian North Sea. PCI projects and participants can benefit from simplified permitting and the right to apply for EU funding from the Connecting Europe Facility programme. The Northern Lights PCI is linking project promoters located in seven European countries.
Porthos focuses on transporting and storing CO2 that is captured by various companies. The companies will supply their CO2 to a collective pipeline that runs through Rotterdam port area. The CO2 will then be pressurised in a compressor station, transported through an offshore pipeline to a platform in the North Sea and pumped in an empty gas field. In its early years, the project will be able to store 2 to 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
Contact: S.J.R.Ransdorp@gasunie.nl
The Athos project aims to develop a public CO2-distribution network in the North Sea Canal area, enabling CCUS: the capture and transport of CO2, for usage or to be stored in empty gas fields under the North Sea. By doing so, Athos makes an important contribution to the Dutch climate objectives.
Contact: S.J.R.Ransdorp@gasunie.nl
SNAM and Microsoft launch the first joint project on Cloud and IoT for the technological and sustainable development of energy networks. The “Hybrid Cloud” infrastructure will allow to leverage greater data processing capacity and IoT to manage network in an increasingly efficient and flexible way. The synergy will create a digital architecture capable of delivering some services from the Cloud, including commercial applications serving users of the gas system.
Contact: davide.ciullo@snam.it
H-vision is working to set up plants that will soon be supplying industry with low-carbon hydrogen. This unique partnership extends through the entire chain, and includes three refineries, electric power companies and a number of knowledge partners that collaborate to accelerate the development of the new network. The first plant, with a capacity of approximately 750 MW, will be completed by late 2026. A second hydrogen plant can increase the total capacity to over 1,500 MW. In partnership with, Deltalinqs, Air Liquide, BP, the Port of Rotterdam Authority, ONYX-Power Rotterdam, EBN, Equinor, Shell, Uniper, Royal Vopak and ExxonMobil.
Hydrogen from a large-scale electrolysis shall be injected into the gas transmission network of ONTRAS. The energy will be commercially offered to reduce the CO2 footprint of private households. At later stages the hydrogen ratio in the gas supply of a community will be increased with the target of eventually switch to a 100% hydrogen.
Contact: ralf.borschinsky@ontras.com
In October 2021 GNI published a ‘Sustainability of Biomethane Production in Ireland’ report undertaken by Devenish Nutrition and KPMG Sustainable Futures, which drew on existing academic research, as well as data and on-farm experience from the Dowth Research Farm in Co. Meath. The report concluded that agriculturally produced biomethane can be delivered sustainably and at scale to help reduce on-farm emissions and decarbonise Ireland’s energy system without reducing the national herd, disrupting food production, intensifying agricultural activities or impacting on biodiversity.
The GET H2 partners BP, Evonik, Nowega, OGE and RWE Generation want to jointly build the first publicly accessible hydrogen infrastructure. The GET H2 Nukleus project combines the production of green hydrogen with industrial customers in Lower Saxony and NRW. The approximately 130-kilometer network from Lingen to Gelsenkirchen will be the first H2 network in the regulated area with non-discriminatory access and transparent prices.
Research on the Injection of New Gases into Storage facilities (RINGS) is a research and development partnership to study the behaviour of biomethane and hydrogen when mixed with natural gas in deep aquifers, with a view to storing them effectively. In partnership with Storengy / University of Pau / CNRS / Carnot Institute / SNAM (observer) / ENAGAS (observer).