On Thursday 20th October, Phoenix hosted our first Renewable Gas Conference at the Titanic Hotel Belfast.
With contributions from leading local and international speakers, the 250 delegates at the Renewable Gas Conference learned more about the opportunity to decarbonise the gas network and wider industry with the introduction of renewable gas alternatives such as biomethane and green hydrogen.
Conference delegates heard from the Minster for the Economy, Gordon Lyons MLA, who delivered a keynote address on the potential for Northern Ireland to become leaders in indigenous energy production and the significant role that the modern gas network can play in delivering renewable gas solutions.
Speakers from Queen’s University Belfast, Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Catagen, SGN, B9 Energy, Translink, Renewable NI, the Consumer Council NI, KPMG and John Thompson and Sons Ltd further outlined the opportunity to utilise renewable gases to support the transition to net-zero and positively benefit the whole of society.
NI Gas Network Pathway to Net-Zero
Northern Ireland’s five Gas Network Operators have launched their joint plan to fully decarbonise the region’s gas network by 2050.
The Pathway to Net-Zero charts out how the gas network will transition away from natural gas to renewable alternatives such as Biomethane and Hydrogen to support Northern Ireland’s emission targets.
The Pathway to Net-Zero consists of six distinct stages. At each stage, the pathway sets out – at a high level – the expected key developments, the necessary infrastructure requirements and the supporting actions required for the Pathway to succeed.
1. Preparing for the transition (2022-2025) – Strategic planning with an emphasis on regulatory frameworks, research, and consumer stakeholder engagement.
2. First Renewable Gas Connections (2022-2026) – Establishing biomethane and green hydrogen production to facilitate the injection of renewable gas into the network; specific trial projects to confirm delivery.
3. Establishing Supply and Demand (2026-2030) – First hydrogen & biomethane demand clusters emerge as production levels steadily climb. Improved hydrogen and biomethane availability allows other sources of demand – transport, industry, power generation – to begin transitioning to renewable gases.
4. Accelerated Ambition (2030-2040) – Expansion of biomethane and green hydrogen production, supporting significant advances in the decarbonisation of industry, transport, and power generation.
5. Home Stretch (2040-2049) – With hydrogen-ready boilers widely installed in NI homes by this time, this phase focuses on switching users not already benefiting from biomethane to a 100% hydrogen supply.
6. A Zero-Carbon Gas Network (2050) – Natural gas is entirely replaced by green hydrogen and biomethane, offering zero-carbon solutions to residences, services, power, industry and transport sectors.
Welcoming the launch of the Pathway, Economy Minister Gordon Lyons MLA commented: “I welcome these ambitious proposals to decarbonise the Northern Ireland Gas Network. Encouraging the production of renewable gases will create a significant source of indigenous green energy which will reduce our reliance on importing price volatile fossil fuels. This will ensure that in the delivery of self-sufficiency in affordable renewable energy, we will transform our economy, and the whole of our society will benefit from it.”
The full Pathway to Net-Zero can be found here
Supporting a renewable gas sector in Northern Ireland
KPMG, on behalf of Action Renewables, have produced a report Supporting a renewable gas sector in Northern Ireland which outlines the strategic benefits of developing a biomethane industry in Northern Ireland and explores the potential mechanisms which could be utilised to engender one.
The report outlines an ambition to support a renewable gas sector in Northern Ireland with an initial target of 1.4 TWh of gas supply coming from biomethane by 2030 (displacing c.15% of natural gas distribution demand). It also explores what potential financial support mechanisms could be used to bolster the deployment of new indigenous production facilities for biomethane.
While ambitious, the 1.4 TWh target has been suggested as it is broadly in-line with the capacity roll-out profile which was achieved for the existing AD capacity in NI, is well within the feedstock capacity available in NI, and could comfortably be accommodated in the NI Gas Network with limited infrastructure investment.
The research also found that reaching the suggested 1.4 TWh target would result in the creation of 1400 jobs and deliver 6% of the savings required to meet the NI Energy Strategy’s goal of reducing energy emissions from 12.6MT to 7MT by 2030.
To read the full report, please click here
Northern Irelands Future Hydrogen Capability and Demand 2022
Matrix, the Northern Ireland Science Industry Panel, has published a new report Northern Ireland’s Future Hydrogen Capability and Demand developed by Frontier Economics which demonstrates that Northern Ireland is the ideal location to develop a future economy powered by green hydrogen.
The report includes:
A vision for the green hydrogen economy in Northern Ireland, considering supply, demand and export potentials and an assessment of barriers and enablers that may need to be overcome or enhanced to ensure the sectors development.
An action plan to overcome these barriers and foster enablers.
An assessment of potential wider impacts on growth, employment and skills in the green economy.
One of the key near term actions identified by the report as critical to kick start a regional green hydrogen economy is facilitating the option to blend hydrogen into the existing gas network. The gas network provides a potential source of steady demand which can act as a supporting anchor within a future hydrogen economy by ensuring that potential producers have a ready market for their hydrogen.
Other recommendations in the report include:
· Whole-system Planning, an approach comprehensively considering all energy vectors to decide the most efficient balance of energy and optimise infrastructure, therefore minimising the costs of decarbonisation.
· Ensuring Public Funding is available for the sector to bridge the cost gap between green hydrogen and incumbent fossil fuels and reduce the burden of appliance adaptation costs for end-users.
· Implementing a Hydrogen Governance Body to align responsibilities and capabilities of relevant government bodies in driving and implementing the sector’s development.
· Ensuring the Hydrogen Catapult identified in the Energy Strategy is established soon ensuring Northern Ireland keeps up pace with global efforts and demand for further progressing hydrogen technologies.
The full report can be found here
Kommentare