Gasunie To Invest in Power-To-Gas Unit

Dutch state-owned gas grid operator Gasunie announced June 30 that it will invest in a 1 MW power-to-gas (PTG) installation at Zuidwending. The gas produced, hydrogen, would be fed into the country's gas grid.

Gasunie subsidiaries EnergyStock and New Energy aim to convert sustainable electricity into hydrogen at the unit using some 5,000 solar panels. The plan is to have the 1 MW unit completed in September 2018. It said this pilot project, called 'HyStock' will be a step in scaling up PTG technology in the Netherlands and that it chose the location because of the proximity of the Zuidwending underground gas storage facility in the north of the country. If this pilot were to be the first of several, electricity from offshore windfarms would likely be used.

Other PTG units have already been opened elsewhere in Europe, for instance the Uniper-run 2 MW Falkenhagen unit has been producing hydrogen with the same electrolysis technology, but using wind-generated electricity since 2014.

Hydrogen from such units can be fed into the public gas supply, and in the case of Falkenhagen already is.

Mark Smedley