Dubbed ‘Hydrogen Injection Testing in the National Gas Transmission Network’, this trial is part of the Quality of Service Regulations for the electricity and gas sectors and is considered a decisive step towards the decarbonization of the energy sector and the preparation of national grids for the future integration of renewable gases on a commercial scale.
“This is a research and demonstration project, framed within the H2REN Program, to address national and European energy policy guidelines in the field of hydrogen, particularly in the National Hydrogen Plan,” the regulator explains in a statement.
Lasting 18 months, the project involves injecting hydrogen into a section of the National Gas Transmission Network (RNTG), to be subsequently conveyed within the REN Portgás distribution network, thereby supplying a group of clients in the Braga district with a hydrogen and natural gas mixture.
The trial aims firstly to assess, in a controlled environment, the behavior of infrastructures already prepared to operate with mixtures containing up to 10% hydrogen. Concurrently, procedures for the coordination between transport and distribution network operators in the injection of renewable gases will be tested, as well as a new system developed for controlling gas quality in the distribution network.
“The experience and recommendations derived from the pilot project will impact the implementation and consolidation of connection processes for the injection of hydrogen into networks on a commercial basis. They will also allow the assessment, in a controlled environment and under different operational regimes, of the performance of a Mixing and Injection Station (EMI), equipment associated with renewable gas production facilities like hydrogen,” details ERSE.
Throughout the project, REN Gasodutos commits to disseminating information about the progress and results achieved, in addition to monitoring and informing the clients who will receive the hydrogen and natural gas mixture. Since the expected hydrogen concentration levels comply with the operational limits of equipment for gas combustion, no constraints are anticipated for clients, assures the regulator.
