Seasonal and Multi-Seasonal Energy Storage by Power-to-Methane Technology

Integration of Hydrogen and Synthetic Natural Gas within Legacy Power Generation Facilities

Whilst various new technologies for power generation are continuously being evaluated, the owners of almost-new facilities, such as combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants, remain motivated to adapt these to new circumstances and avoid the balance-sheet financial impairments of underutilization. Not only are the owners reluctant to decommission the legacy CCGT assets, but system operators value the inertia and flexibilities they contribute to a system becoming predominated with renewable generation. This analysis therefore focuses on the reinvestment cases for adapting CCGT to hydrogen (H2), synthetic natural gas (SNG) and/or retrofitted carbon capture and utilization systems (CCUS). Although H2, either by itself or as part of SNG, has been evaluated attractively for longer-term electricity storage, the business case for how it can be part of a hybrid legacy CCGT system has not been analyzed in a market context. This work compares the power to synthetic natural gas to power (PSNGP) adaptation with the simpler and less expensive power to hydrogen to power (P2HP) adaptation. Both the P2HP and PSNGP configurations are effective in terms of decarbonizations. The best results of the feasibility analysis for a UK application with low CCGT load factors (around 31%) were obtained for 100% H2 (P2HP) in the lower range of wholesale electricity prices (less than 178 GBP/MWh), but in the higher range of prices, it would be preferable to use the PSNGP configuration with a low proportion of SNG (25%). If the CCGT load factor increased to 55% (the medium scenario), the breakeven profitability point between P2HP and PSNGP decreased to a market price of 145 GBP/MWh. Alternatively, with the higher load factors (above 77%), satisfactory results were obtained for PSNGP using 50% SNG if with market prices above 185 GBP/MWh.

Seasonal Energy Storage with Power-to-Methane Technology

To have a sustainable society, the need to use renewable sources to produce electricity is inevitable [...]

Past, Present and Near Future: An Overview of Closed, Running and Planned Biomethanation Facilities in Europe

The power-to-methane technology is promising for long-term, high-capacity energy storage. Currently, there are two different industrial-scale methanation methods: the chemical one (based on the Sabatier reaction) and the biological one (using microorganisms for the conversion). The second method can be used not only to methanize the mixture of pure hydrogen and carbon dioxide but also to methanize the hydrogen and carbon dioxide content of low-quality gases, such as biogas or deponia gas, enriching them to natural gas quality; therefore, the applicability of biomethanation is very wide. In this paper, we present an overview of the existing and planned industrial-scale biomethanation facilities in Europe, as well as review the facilities closed in recent years after successful operation in the light of the scientific and socioeconomic context. To outline key directions for further developments, this paper interconnects biomethanation projects with the competitiveness of the energy sector in Europe for the first time in the literature. The results show that future projects should have an integrative view of electrolysis and biomethanation, as well as hydrogen storage and utilization with carbon capture and utilization (HSU&CCU) to increase sectoral competitiveness by enhanced decarbonization.