Hydrogen Injection to reduce carbon energies

The use of electricity produced by wind turbines or photovoltaic panels depends on the consumption needs. If it is not used, it vanishes. Keeping it would make it possible to have renewable and available energy. Natural gas can be coupled with many renewable energies, like biomethane (waste gas), windmills or photovoltaic energies flawlessly meeting the environmental requirements of the future. This mixture will be very important in the upcoming years when there will be a very significant part of the electricity generated by renewable energies, variable all year round. To be preserved, electricity that isn’t consumed at the time of production must be stored. This is possible today thanks to its transformation into hydrogen which will be injected in small quantities into the natural gas distribution network.

How is electricity transformed into hydrogen and how is it mixed with natural gas?

First, non-consumed electricity produced from renewable energies such as windmills, water turbines, solar panels, agriculture or other are recovered. Since the production of renewable energies is variable, the surplus production of electricity that isn’t depleted is retrieved and converted into hydrogen gas by the process of electrolysis of water. This process uses water, electricity and a polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyser and makes it possible to create oxygen and hydrogen which are retrievable.

Then, hydrogen is stored in its solid state as a metallic hydride, unlike the gas stored in pressurized bottles. The quantity of hydrogen stored is therefore much higher due to volume savings.

Finally, the hydrogen is mixed with natural gas and injected into the gas network after removing it from storage in its gaseous form by modulating the temperature. The new energy is then distributed, composed of natural gas and hydrogen: A new composition of natural gas which ensures the safety of operations.

To sum up, in order to optimize the production of renewable energies, electricity is transformed into hydrogen using water and then added to natural gas. Hydrogen has many advantages, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and local pollutants. This consumption is respectful of the environment and people’s health.

Compared to fuel or electricity heating, gas is one of the most competitive energies on the market. This process is called “Power to Gas” where electricity is transformed and mixed with gas. It answers the market’s needs for renewable and low carbon energy sources, through their conversion into hydrogen gas. The latter can be injected into the natural gas network or used as a vehicle fuel allowing higher engine efficiency, lower emissions of local pollutants and lower consumption of primary energy.