Evaluation of the impact of green hydrogen blending scenarios in the Italian gas network: Optimal design and dynamic simulation of operation strategies

Blending hydrogen (H2) produced from PEM electrolysis coupled to Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in the existing Natural Gas (NG) network is a promising option for the deep decarbonization of the gas sector. However, blending H2 with NG significantly affects the thermophysical properties of the gas m...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lingkang Jin, Andrea Monforti Ferrario, Viviana Cigolotti, Gabriele Comodi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2022-08-01
Series:Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667095X2200006X
_version_ 1797980346825834496
author Lingkang Jin
Andrea Monforti Ferrario
Viviana Cigolotti
Gabriele Comodi
author_facet Lingkang Jin
Andrea Monforti Ferrario
Viviana Cigolotti
Gabriele Comodi
author_sort Lingkang Jin
collection DOAJ
description Blending hydrogen (H2) produced from PEM electrolysis coupled to Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in the existing Natural Gas (NG) network is a promising option for the deep decarbonization of the gas sector. However, blending H2 with NG significantly affects the thermophysical properties of the gas mixture, changing the gas supply requirements to meet the demand. In this work, different scenarios of green hydrogen blending (Blend Ratio BR equal to 5/10/15/20%vol) are analyzed at the national level with different temporal constraints (hour/day/week/month/year) based on real gas demand data in Italy, addressing both design requirements (RES and PEM electrolyzer capacity) via Linear Programming (LP) and carrying out dynamic simulations of different operational strategies (constant or variable blend). Although H2/NG blending provides a huge opportunity in terms of deployed H2 volume, higher BRs show rapidly increasing design requirements (1.3-1.5 GWe/%vol and 2.5-3 GWe/%vol for PEM electrolyzers and RES capacity, respectively) and a significative increase of the total gas mixture volume (0.83%/%vol) which hinders the CO2 reduction potential (0.37%/%vol). A variable blend operation strategy (allowing a variation of BR within the analyzed period) allows to balance a variable H2 production from RES. Wider temporal constraints imply several beneficial effects such as relaxing design constraints and avoiding the implementation of an external storage. The Levelized Cost Of Hydrogen (LCOH) is preliminarily estimated at around 7.3 $/kg for yearly scenarios (best-case), although shorter temporal constraints entail significant excess hydrogen which would increase the LCOH if not deployed for other applications.
first_indexed 2024-04-11T05:54:07Z
format Article
id doaj.art-42ea064d097647e28c988a92e3f15787
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2667-095X
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-11T05:54:07Z
publishDate 2022-08-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition
spelling doaj.art-42ea064d097647e28c988a92e3f157872022-12-22T04:41:58ZengElsevierRenewable and Sustainable Energy Transition2667-095X2022-08-012100022Evaluation of the impact of green hydrogen blending scenarios in the Italian gas network: Optimal design and dynamic simulation of operation strategiesLingkang Jin0Andrea Monforti Ferrario1Viviana Cigolotti2Gabriele Comodi3Department of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (DIISM), Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, ItalyDepartment of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (DIISM), Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy; Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources, Laboratory of Energy Storage, Batteries and Hydrogen Production and Use (TERIN-PSU-ABI), ENEA Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Rome, ItalyEnergy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources, Laboratory of Energy Storage, Batteries and Hydrogen Production and Use (TERIN-PSU-ABI), ENEA Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (DIISM), Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy; Corresponding authors.Blending hydrogen (H2) produced from PEM electrolysis coupled to Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in the existing Natural Gas (NG) network is a promising option for the deep decarbonization of the gas sector. However, blending H2 with NG significantly affects the thermophysical properties of the gas mixture, changing the gas supply requirements to meet the demand. In this work, different scenarios of green hydrogen blending (Blend Ratio BR equal to 5/10/15/20%vol) are analyzed at the national level with different temporal constraints (hour/day/week/month/year) based on real gas demand data in Italy, addressing both design requirements (RES and PEM electrolyzer capacity) via Linear Programming (LP) and carrying out dynamic simulations of different operational strategies (constant or variable blend). Although H2/NG blending provides a huge opportunity in terms of deployed H2 volume, higher BRs show rapidly increasing design requirements (1.3-1.5 GWe/%vol and 2.5-3 GWe/%vol for PEM electrolyzers and RES capacity, respectively) and a significative increase of the total gas mixture volume (0.83%/%vol) which hinders the CO2 reduction potential (0.37%/%vol). A variable blend operation strategy (allowing a variation of BR within the analyzed period) allows to balance a variable H2 production from RES. Wider temporal constraints imply several beneficial effects such as relaxing design constraints and avoiding the implementation of an external storage. The Levelized Cost Of Hydrogen (LCOH) is preliminarily estimated at around 7.3 $/kg for yearly scenarios (best-case), although shorter temporal constraints entail significant excess hydrogen which would increase the LCOH if not deployed for other applications.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667095X2200006XGreen hydrogenHydrogen blendLCOHPower-to-GasLinear programmingOptimization
spellingShingle Lingkang Jin
Andrea Monforti Ferrario
Viviana Cigolotti
Gabriele Comodi
Evaluation of the impact of green hydrogen blending scenarios in the Italian gas network: Optimal design and dynamic simulation of operation strategies
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition
Green hydrogen
Hydrogen blend
LCOH
Power-to-Gas
Linear programming
Optimization
title Evaluation of the impact of green hydrogen blending scenarios in the Italian gas network: Optimal design and dynamic simulation of operation strategies
title_full Evaluation of the impact of green hydrogen blending scenarios in the Italian gas network: Optimal design and dynamic simulation of operation strategies
title_fullStr Evaluation of the impact of green hydrogen blending scenarios in the Italian gas network: Optimal design and dynamic simulation of operation strategies
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of the impact of green hydrogen blending scenarios in the Italian gas network: Optimal design and dynamic simulation of operation strategies
title_short Evaluation of the impact of green hydrogen blending scenarios in the Italian gas network: Optimal design and dynamic simulation of operation strategies
title_sort evaluation of the impact of green hydrogen blending scenarios in the italian gas network optimal design and dynamic simulation of operation strategies
topic Green hydrogen
Hydrogen blend
LCOH
Power-to-Gas
Linear programming
Optimization
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667095X2200006X
work_keys_str_mv AT lingkangjin evaluationoftheimpactofgreenhydrogenblendingscenariosintheitaliangasnetworkoptimaldesignanddynamicsimulationofoperationstrategies
AT andreamonfortiferrario evaluationoftheimpactofgreenhydrogenblendingscenariosintheitaliangasnetworkoptimaldesignanddynamicsimulationofoperationstrategies
AT vivianacigolotti evaluationoftheimpactofgreenhydrogenblendingscenariosintheitaliangasnetworkoptimaldesignanddynamicsimulationofoperationstrategies
AT gabrielecomodi evaluationoftheimpactofgreenhydrogenblendingscenariosintheitaliangasnetworkoptimaldesignanddynamicsimulationofoperationstrategies