Source: Energy & Management Powernews, June 28, 2022
With its project "Hydrogen Island Öhringen", Netze BW wants to show that a share of 30% hydrogen in the natural gas network is already possible today. Another project aims at 100%.
Soon in the next few days it should go off: About 30 households, which are located on streets near the operating station in Öhringen, Baden-Württemberg, about 70 kilometers northeast of Stuttgart, are to become an "island" - that is, they will be connected to a separate natural gas network. Into that Netze BW wants to feed hydrogen, namely up to a portion of 30%.
According to the company, that is currently the highest value in Germany. Admittedly, Gasnetz Hamburg is also already working with this quota in the "My Smart Life" project. However, the gas mix supplies block-type thermal power stations and does not flow into households. However, several trials with 20 % are already underway throughout Germany. Netze BW made a start by supplying its own operations center. The increase of the hydrogen portion ran without problems, as project chief Heike Grüner assures.
The supplier wants to show with the project that the 30% portion is already possible today - without complex adjustment of the existing infrastructure, be it consumer devices, supply lines or armatures. Nevertheless, possible effects are to be thoroughly investigated. To this end, industry experts are involved, as are specialist tradesmen from the sanitary, heating and air-conditioning sectors, Tüv Süd, equipment manufacturers and research institutes. Chimney sweeps are also on board, and the fire department has also been informed. Residents and local politicians are also open to the whole thing. "With this groundbreaking research project, we have our finger on the pulse of the times, and important course is being set here for the future," explained Öhringen's mayor Thilo Michler (independent) in the run-up.
Direct coupling of power generation and heat supply
The hydrogen for the trial is being generated with an electrolyzer on the premises of Netze BW in Öhringen, which works with green electricity. And it stands in miniature for the project's big goal: to show that gas grids can play a crucial role in storing renewable energy. If, due to weather conditions, more electricity is generated than is needed, it can be converted into hydrogen, fed into the gas grid, and transported and stored there. In this way, electricity generation and heat supply are directly linked. This sector coupling is a key prerequisite for achieving the climate targets. And it can also help mitigate bottlenecks in the power grid: Renewables can be increasingly consumed on site through electrolysers.
"The addition of hydrogen to our natural gas networks is the first step. Hereby we show that it technically works," explained Martin Konermann, managing director of Netze BW. "In the future, 100 percent hydrogen will then flow in our gas networks. And we are thinking the story through to the end," he emphasized. After all, he said, the goal is to completely avoid CO2 emissions in the heating sector as well. "We will only succeed in this by using green hydrogen," he is certain.
New construction area with pure hydrogen planned in Upper Bavaria
Energie Südbayern (ESB) and Thüga also have the goal of 100 percent hydrogen. Starting in the 2023/2024 heating period, a new housing development with ten houses in the Upper Bavarian town of Hohenwart, 65 kilometers north of Munich, is to be supplied entirely with pure hydrogen, along with a market garden.
Marcus Böske, management spokesman at ESB: "H2Direkt is one of the most important pilot projects in Germany to demonstrate the enormous potential of gas grids for a climate-neutral heat supply. Against the background of the current discussions about security of supply, green hydrogen also offers a clear perspective."
Currently, the project is in the design phase, as the project partners state. The approach, however, differs fundamentally from the Netze BW project: special H2 condensing boilers from Vaillant are to be used, while Öhringen will continue to work with conventional gas equipment.
Thüga is primarily assuming conceptual and strategic tasks in the trial. It intends to share results and experience with the approximately 100 partner companies in the Thüga Group. ESB is to be responsible for the implementation and technical support of the field test on site.
Further information around the "Hydrogen Island" project can be found here.
Author: Günter Drewnitzky
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