BY M. DIANE MCCORMICK
In the accelerating race to decarbonize, today’s gas companies have seized opportunities to move hydrogen from a theoretical concept to a practical solution. They are building on past work and adding more pilot tests to subject the production, blending and distribution of hydrogen to rigorous, real-world conditions, serving as springboards for partnerships and positioning natural gas utilities as innovators.
“Hydrogen has a lot of interesting intersections with and for gas utilities,” said Aiden Renaghan, director of project development, Peaks Renewables. “It is a technology that interplays with a lot of other things, most notably in encouraging more renewable energy generation, storage and usage.”
As a result, natural gas utilities are demonstrating their powers to harness resourcefulness, existing systems and accumulated knowledge toward further advancing hydrogen and the natural gas infrastructure as essential contributors to a decarbonized future.
Nationwide, gas utilities have announced more than two dozen pilot projects in hydrogen since 2020, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights. Tests are exploring hydrogen production, pipeline transmission, power generation, storage, appliance end use and transportation.
As exploration of hydrogen’s potential matures, each gas company brings its own experience, philosophy, relationships and needs to the next generation of testing and application. The companies include these three innovators:
Hydrogen testing aligns with the continuum of efforts by gas utilities to help customers and communities achieve environmental, energy and economic goals, said Dr. Laura Nelson, vice president, sustainability and public policy, Southwest Gas. Nelson’s position is a newly created role, which the utility said reflects its strong focus on its sustainability strategy and initiatives.
All this work by utilities continues to drive toward an ultimate goal: “Hydrogen can play a vital role in economy-wide emissions reductions, particularly those areas of the economy considered difficult to decarbonize like heavy transportation and manufacturing,” Nelson said. “Successful outcomes in pilot projects could result in delivering a blended product to end-use customers, providing broad access to support economy-wide decarbonization.”
In 2019, Summit Utilities Inc. announced plans to build an anaerobic digester to create biomethane from the waste generated at five Maine dairy farms. That project, to be owned and operated by Peaks Renewables, may incorporate an added twist—a power-to-gas system using biomethanation to combine green hydrogen and captured carbon, for a carbon-neutral energy source.
The technology was originally developed in California by SoCalGas, Plug Power, Electrochaea, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. With a $5 million grant from the Department of Energy, and subject to regulatory approvals, Summit Utilities Inc. is planning to bring the system to Maine for a field test.
The process could increase the amount of low-carbon gas produced, doubling the amount of methane created from biodigestion that could be available for injection into gas transmission systems, said Renaghan. In such a system, green hydrogen would serve as the initial carrier of renewable energy before handing off that role to methane.
The approach showcases the value of gas to help solve the challenge of renewable energy’s storage and transmission.
“The gas system in the U.S. is the largest energy storage and transportation device in the country,” said Renaghan. “There’s a focus on building out battery capacity to store renewable electricity. A project like this would allow the gas system to transport renewable electricity in the form of methane. It would also store that energy in the pipeline system for on-demand energy when customers need it.”
Biomethanation differs from hydrogen blending by creating a “drop-in replacement” for methane already in use, “so there’s no limit to how much could be put into the system, and you don’t have to do any system upgrades,” noted Renaghan.
While the field test would align with Peaks’ existing RNG project, it would also dovetail with Maine’s ambitions—and challenges—in its drive to be a national decarbonization leader. The state is striving for 80% of electric sales from renewable energy by 2030 and 100% by 2050. However, curtailment rates are high because the state’s renewable energy is created in northern Maine, while demand is clustered in southern Maine.
“We think that’s a ripe opportunity for hydrogen,” said Renaghan. “You can take some of this excess electricity that would otherwise be unused and figure out ways to get it into the gas system so that you are ultimately decarbonizing both the electric and the gas system at the lowest cost for customers.”
The 18- to 24-month test, expected to launch by early to mid-2024, is next-generation for its power to capture and make use of carbon dioxide, while also bridging “the electron and the molecule,” said Renaghan. “It’s not an either/or. This is illustrating the potential linkages between the electricity system and the gas system, showing that the two together can encourage decarbonization at a speed of scale that everybody’s excited about.”
In Nevada and Arizona, Southwest Gas is taking a two-pronged approach to evaluating production, blending, distribution and end use of hydrogen and hydrogen blends. A partnership with University of Nevada Las Vegas plans to utilize an electrolyzer to create hydrogen that is then tested in blends of up to 10%, for injection into the natural gas infrastructure of Southwest Gas’ Emergency Response Training Facility. Before the electrolyzer is ready, the initial pilot project will use premixed bottles of hydrogen.
“We believe hydrogen produced through electrolysis will play an important role in the energy transition because of its low-carbon footprint and ability to serve as an energy storage solution,” said Lang.
Simultaneously, a partnership with Arizona State University will test the combination of 80% natural gas blended with 20% hydrogen obtained from pre-purchased bottles. Like the blend produced in Las Vegas, the mix will be tested at a Southwest Gas EMRF, which allows controlled-environment testing in a facility that replicates the natural gas distribution system and real-world natural gas appliances.
Partnering with universities in its coverage areas leverages the deep ties to these institutions, which educated many Southwest Gas employees and have supported internship, research and development, and other programs. On the R&D side, academic partners “provide a level of expertise in developing, implementing and writing final reports with a keen and independent academic perspective,” Lang said.
“Through these pilot programs, Southwest Gas is focusing on understanding the impacts to company policies, procedures, equipment and training toward the goal of preparing our distribution systems to be ‘hydrogen ready,’ [and] to deliver this clean fuel safely, affordably and reliably,” said Lang. “Testing will also evaluate impacts of various hydrogen blends on gas infrastructure and equipment, ranging from customer appliances to measuring and regulating equipment.
“By studying these aspects now, we hope to identify the optimal hydrogen ratios to minimize the impacts on our system and end-use appliances.”
In downtown Minneapolis, CenterPoint Energy found the ideal site for its 1-megawatt hydrogen demonstration station—along the Mississippi River, on utility-owned property, with access to the gas distribution system and visibility for a curious public and eventual tours.
And, to spotlight the gas utility industry’s continuous cycle of innovation, the facility is near the spot where CenterPoint Energy was founded in 1870. “We manufactured coal gas then,” said Ross Corson, senior communications specialist. “Now we’re manufacturing hydrogen gas at the same site.”
The peak shaving department team devised the project plan, and an engineering partner designed the system. Construction began in late summer 2021. After supply chain delays, the system became operational in late March 2022.
The system comprises a water purifier, pumping/cooling system and an electrolyzer, outputting 7,500 cubic feet of gas per hour to the urban mix of customers in the immediate area. From startup blends of 1%, the system is designed to generate and test hydrogen blends of up to 5%.
Purchase of renewable energy, instead of using CenterPoint’s own sources, facilitates 24/7 operations and uninterrupted lessons on hydrogen’s properties and effects on the system. For a company in the energy delivery business, the primary goal is determining how the effort lowers the carbon impact of the energy delivered.
Except for a few overseas-made specialty valves and other items, the components are produced domestically. “Made in the USA” was not a project goal, but the results show that “it can be done,” noted Heer.
While learning about hydrogen is on the syllabus, the team is also educating itself on other factors, such as safely handling and venting the oxygen that electrolysis generates. The project also strives to educate stakeholders. Regulators, legislators, academics and customers will be invited to learn and engage on the potential for hydrogen as a decarbonization tool within gas distribution.
Already, the project’s innovative nature is generating enthusiasm among a key set of stakeholders—CenterPoint employees.
“It’s been fun to get them involved,” said Heer. “For our engineers, clearly, this is right up their alley, but even our operations and maintenance people have been excited about helping out on the new equipment. We have a pump system and water treatment equipment to maintain, and they have just taken to it.”
The planned Summit Utilities Inc. biomethanation project is small in output but big in ambition, as the company, the U.S. Department of Energy and partners uncover the operating parameters needed to scale up the system.
As such, these projects present long-term opportunities. “We think there’s a huge opportunity to build a full-size project at an RNG site that is much, much larger and can take all of that CO2 and put it into the gas system,” said Renaghan.
He added, “Innovation is a challenge for the industry. A structure like this would allow for that necessary innovation, especially since the speed and scale of decarbonization is increasing, while making sure that customers of distribution systems continue to receive affordable and reliable energy on a daily basis.”
In Minnesota, future hydrogen projects have additional momentum, with passage in 2021 of the Natural Gas Innovation Act. Under the new law, which allows certain levels of cost recovery in innovative projects, CenterPoint will submit its first plan incorporating green hydrogen for Public Utilities Commission review by the end of 2022, according to Corson.
“We fully expect to do some additional hydrogen under that program,” he said.
While Southwest Gas pursues its blending projects, it is also working with partners to explore hydrogen creation through the heat-based process of pyrolysis, as well as electrolyzing. Additional efforts include partnering with sister utilities and major universities in Arizona on securing federal funds to develop a hydrogen hub.
Southwest Gas is also identifying regulatory pathways to empower hydrogen creation, purchasing and distribution, said Nelson. “We hope to collaborate with regulators, policymakers and lawmakers to establish conducive frameworks to support a hydrogen economy, making hydrogen available to customers and our communities,” she said. “In addition, we hope to continue partnerships with our regulators and other stake-holders to ensure the ongoing investment in the already robust natural gas distribution to provide hydrogen safely and reliably to millions of customers.”
Collaboration within the industry and with external partners is “the key to advancing hydrogen,” Nelson added. “The root of our hydrogen strategy is to partner with best-in-class leaders who together bring their unique strengths and areas of expertise to the table. This will help us all move the research and development of hydrogen and the development of safety standards, while establishing the economics of hydrogen and developing ever-increasing sources of hydrogen much faster than if we try to do it alone. Collaboration encourages the widespread adoption of a beneficial energy source.”