Exploring the Decarbonization Potential of Hydrogen in Natural Gas Networks

Reaching net-zero will require disruptive innovations to our energy system, including using energy and existing infrastructure efficiently and producing increasingly lower-carbon energy resources. Unless we solve for the challenges surrounding energy storage, however, we cannot fully leverage intermittent renewable resources. ERCOT released a study finding that wind and solar generation capacity in West Texas could be significantly constrained as soon as 2023 and by 2030, and curtailment levels of wind and solar could reach almost 30 percent. The report stated that, “technologies beyond typical 345-kV transmission lines would be needed to effectively improve the West Texas export limit.” Stated differently, we can’t just build our way out of this problem.

Hydrogen has the potential to support an increase in intermittent renewable resources, like wind and solar; for example, clean hydrogen can be produced from capacity-constrained wind and solar production. The University of Texas’s Center for ElectroMechanics released new research finding that 4 gigawatts (or half of the prospective wind- and solar-related capacity constraints for West Texas) could be resolved by converting excess renewable energy to hydrogen and transporting it to Houston via a hydrogen-only pipeline. The alternative for moving that same amount of electric energy to Houston would require construction of five 345-kV transmission lines — which is simply unfathomable today.

The U.S. has an extensive network of about 300,000 miles of natural gas transmission pipelines (not counting distribution systems) but only about 1,600 miles of dedicated hydrogen pipelines. At least some of the natural gas network can be repurposed for blended hydrogen use; the question is how much hydrogen can be tolerated in any given region of the natural gas network. Hydrogen has roughly one-third the energy content of natural gas in the same value, so blending it into natural gas pipelines would lower both the carbon dioxide emissions of the natural gas network as well as the pipelines’ Btu-carrying capacity — a factor to weigh in terms of the practicality of blending higher amounts of hydrogen.

Leading engineers and scientists are looking into these very questions, not only at GTI Energy, but also at the U.S. Department of Energy, which has partnered with five national labs and 30 industry stakeholders to participate in a study. U.S. gas utilities, including National Grid, SoCalGas, Dominion, and New Jersey Natural Gas have launched blending projects to expand understanding of the viability of higher hydrogen blends into natural gas pipelines.

GTI Energy’s Hydrogen Technology Center embraces systems thinking, open learning, and collaboration to maximize lessons learned on impacts of hydrogen to existing infrastructure as we work to deliver the innovations needed for low-carbon, low-cost energy systems. Hydrogen carries great promise, and the research obstacles we must overcome are not insurmountable.

Unlike past boom-and-busts, the excitement around hydrogen is more likely to be sustained because of its ability to facilitate grid-scale energy storage needed to integrate an increased amount of intermittent renewable resources into the mix.

For a more detailed explanation, visit RBN Energy LLC’s blog, where I penned a guest post on this issue in particular.

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