The production of green gas only grew to a limited extent in 2022. While strong growth is needed, of almost ten times the current level, to reach 2030 billion m2 by XNUMX.3 to achieve that agreed in the Climate Agreement. What does more green gas mean in everyday grid operator practice? A story about smart grid connections, exciting summers, collection pipes, boosters and safe construction for the future.
The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) noted in the latest Climate and Energy Outlook that the production of green gas in 2030 will remain at 0,6 to 0,7 billion m in XNUMX with current policy.3. According to the coalition agreement, this should be €1,6 billion3 become. The Climate Agreement even includes 2 billion m3 recorded. That is why Minister Rob Jetten (Climate and Energy) will draw up rules this summer for the blending obligation for green gas, agreed in the coalition agreement. So much for politics; to the order of the day.
“We are making new connections in our gas network to connect producers who feed in green gas, but especially to have sufficient capacity for the local distribution of that green gas.” Henk Engberts, Asset Management advisor at Coteq Netbeheer, uses a map to show which gas pipelines he is constructing in his work area, East Netherlands. This map shows the existing pipelines (blue lines), new (red lines) and pipelines yet to be installed (red dotted line). “The Coteq gas network, like all gas networks in the Netherlands, is made up of many small municipal gas networks. Over the years we have linked parts, but certainly not everything. We will therefore still have to expand for the distribution of green gas, which is supplied decentrally.”
100 percent green gas
The production of green gas in the Coteq service area amounted to 2022 million cubic meters in 12,3. The grid operator expects an increase to around 18 million m this year3 – already half the volume required for the 20 percent blending obligation that Minister Jetten has in mind. This equates to heating 15.000 homes. With larger producers such as waste processor Twence and Agro-Energie from Hardenberg and a number of livestock farmers, Coteq will soon connect its tenth feeder.
A little further north, in South Drenthe and North Overijssel, RENDO is working on the ambition to be completely natural gas-free by 2030, with 100 percent green gas in its network. “RENDO and Coteq have the most potential for green gas of all grid operators: there is sufficient manure; we also have a waste disposal company in our area. It is especially a challenge to distribute that gas locally,” says Nico van der Ploeg, RENDO's Asset Management Gas specialist.
Manure, but certainly also waste materials such as sludge, garden waste and vegetable and fruit remains, are raw materials for producing biogas. Biogas only acquires the quality of natural gas after treatment in an upgrading installation, which makes the gas drier and purifies it of CO2. It also acquires an odor and is called green gas after the treatment.
boundaries
The distribution of green gas reaches the limits of the grid, especially in the summer. The production of green gas is virtually the same all year round, so the gas produced must be consumed, preferably close to the place where it is fed into the gas network. “In the winter we can easily use all the green gas that is fed in,” says Engberts, “but in the summer it gets exciting. Many heating systems are turned off and our network quickly fills up in some places. Groen Gas Goor, for example, feeds into a network that only supplies gas in the Goor region. Sometimes they even have to reduce production.”
Engberts points to a red dotted line on his map: “This is my vision of the future. In Enschede and Hengelo, a lot of gas is used, but not produced. If we lay a new section of pipeline here, I can connect our gas network with Hengelo to the Enexis network. We may be able to sell a lot of green gas there in the future, from the Goor region.”
'Many benefits of green gas'
Robert Goevaers, Green Gas Platform: “Sun and wind are free; for green gas you have to purchase raw materials or have manure. For CO2 reduction, solar and wind are therefore cheaper than green gas. Even with the SDE subsidy, our production has stagnated in recent years. But green gas fits one-to-one into the existing natural gas system. You can feed and transport it into the gas network, so it is always available. You still have to insulate buildings, but new boilers or installations are not necessary. That may even save on strengthening the electricity grid. Nobody wants a wind turbine or solar park in their backyard. Green gas has few disadvantages. As a sector, we must communicate the benefits better.
The sector expects a lot from the blending obligation - we see real enthusiasm to start building. Large installations that produce approximately 50 million cubic meters per year. But small-scale mono-manure digesters also have an important role to play. To achieve our goals, we would need nine hundred of those. This requires connections to the gas network, and network operators are busy working on this. The infrastructure is important for the supply of raw materials. And we have to explain to people clearly what it means to have such a building in the neighborhood. Green gas gets the wind at its back with the blending obligation.”
Several birds, one stone
The logistical puzzle of matching green gas production, consumption and grid capacity received a boost this spring with Gasunie's decision to make a 60-kilometer natural gas pipeline between Emmen and Ommen suitable for the import of green gas. The pipeline was used for gas from smaller gas fields in Twente, which are now empty. Gasunie kills several birds with one stone: high-calorific natural gas from imports is mixed with the green gas in this pipeline, thus reducing it to a lower quality; The green gas from the region at a low pressure of 8 bar is collected in this pipe and fed into the national Gasunie network by the Gasunie compressor in Ommen at 66 bar.
“Ideal, a collection pipe in the area that can carry 10.000 cubic meters per day. There is growth potential for biogas here in Drenthe,” says Van der Ploeg of RENDO. The Coteq network does not yet connect to the collection pipeline, but Henk Engberts sees possibilities: “We are making a new connection with 9 kilometers of pipeline that Coteq can take over from Gasunie - hence this strange pendulum on the map. A new kilometer of pipe costs almost two tons. But this pipeline has been lying idle in the ground for more than twenty years. So we first have to investigate whether it is still good enough.”
Sometimes people dig a pipe themselves. There are no rules for that
Expensive pressure
If there is a summer surplus of locally produced green gas that is not consumed, the next option is to feed it into Gasunie's network. With the intended rapidly growing production of green gas, this will be necessary in more and more places. A costly solution, because gas from the regional network with 8 bar pressure must be pumped through a so-called 'booster' to 40 bar from the Gasunie network. Such a booster costs a few million euros. In addition, it consumes 10 percent of the energy it processes to create the pressure.
A booster is not necessary for feeding into the Emmen-Ommen collection pipe. Gasunie keeps the pressure there at 5 to 6 bar. The surplus from the connected pipes of RENDO and Coteq automatically flows in the right direction at 8 bar. “In the summer we simply use that runoff. This makes it a lot easier to manage,” says Engberts
Strict separation
Network operators are working on the transport and distribution of more and more green gas in the network. They have no role in increasing the production of biogas and - further upgraded - green gas. After all, grid management and energy production are strictly separated by law in the Netherlands. In addition to Coteq Netbeheer, parent company Cogas Group therefore founded Cogas Duurzaam, an energy supplier and manager of sustainable networks. “We are allowed to do everything with biogas, but not participate in an upgrading station. That is considered natural gas production. So we limit ourselves to the network itself,” explains Ferdinand Borsje. The Renewable Gases project developer of Cogas Duurzaam is working towards more sustainable production. He says he doesn't have much work to do with larger feeders; it is the smaller biogas networks that require commitment. Borsje: “If a group of farmers wants to produce biogas, we look at how many kilometers of pipeline are needed to connect them. A farmer must produce approximately 100 cubic meters of gas per meter of pipe annually to make the plan financially attractive. We settle the costs via the cooperative, with the SDE subsidy, and often an involved municipality also invests. This way there is no financing burden on the farms.”
The example illustrates the difference in working method with grid operator RENDO. “We leave it to the initiators to draw up plans,” says Nico van der Ploeg. “Where the pipes should be located, how the costs are divided. Sometimes you get a printout of Google Maps with a few dots on it. That's the plan then. Many interests, questions, dynamics - as a network operator you don't want to be involved. They have to make a good plan themselves and calculate the business case. We always want to provide advice so that the pipeline is installed correctly.”
World news
Without knowing it, Alkmaar residents showered in February with water that had been heated by gas produced via the technique of supercritical water gasification (SCW) and fed into the gas network. SCW puts waste under 240 bar pressure, at 600 degrees Celsius, to split it into methane, hydrogen and CO2. It was a world first.
Dock safely
However, the regulated separation of tasks has its revenge when it comes to the quality of the biogas networks. Coteq, as a network operator, is not allowed to install this. Cogas Duurzaam is allowed to do this, just like any other party that is not a grid operator. “Sometimes you encounter cringe-inducing situations from people who decide to dig a pipe themselves. There are no rules for that,” says Borsje. Together with Van der Ploeg, he advocates good quality standards. Van der Ploeg: “Grid operators install gas pipelines in accordance with NEN 8770, a standard for quality and safety. Let us also prescribe this in the permit for biogas networks. No one knows what will happen with biogas in the future, so let's build safely now. Otherwise, we will have to wait for the first accident, because no odorant is used in those biogas pipes.”
Charity
Much is still needed to substantially increase the production of green gas – profitably and safely. “I hope that professional parties that understand these matters, i.e. the grid operators, can do more to get this system better on track,” says Engberts. He reacts soberly to the ACM's intention to investigate how network operators can include investments in green gas in the transport rates. “What we are doing now is a little bit of charity. Importers of green gas now only pay for the connection, a fraction of the actual costs. Fortunately, we have public shareholders, our municipalities, who support this - to stimulate the use of this sustainable energy source. But investments must ultimately be repaid. Something goes for something, also with green gas.”
This article is taken from Just NL, the quarterly magazine of Netbeheer Nederland that provides insight into the work of grid operators and grid companies on the energy system of the future.
