Hydrogen transport and storage: already a challenge for gas operators

Here is the car “Torture”. Traction machine, its exact name. he “torture” Steel as explained by the technician on our side. The metal can be subjected to a strong pressure of 100 bar. For the purposes of the experiment, the test specimens contain plates after cutting a large tube.

The FenHYx trial platform is working on a revival. Inside a brick building in Alfortville (Val-de-Marne), the question is whether fossil gas pipe material can be later used for the large-scale transport of low-carbon hydrogen that still exists. Hypothesis stage. must see “Way to find growth relay, new activities”According to GRTgaz Head of Hydrogen Development Geoffroy Anger. The main operator of the country’s gas transmission network opened the building in November 2021.

Hydrogen, which may take an increasing place in the French energy mix in the coming years, represents an interaction with the gas system, but it should not be exaggerated.According to the Energy Regulatory Commission, in a report published in April on the future of gas infrastructure.

Of course, the end of fossil gas is not tomorrow, especially since prices are the lowest since mid-2021. However, European managers are already planning for 2050. In the name of carbon neutrality, which is aimed at the continent, then it will be a matter of recycling their infrastructure.

Or mainly for renewable gases, for example, from agricultural waste. This does not imply any change compared to fossil gas, as it also applies to methane (CH₄). or for hydrogen (H₂) low carbon, which is still in its early stages, thanks to renewable or nuclear energy electrolyzers. Industry already consumes this molecule, but as a raw material, in a polluting form, with steam reforming gas.

Adaptation of compressor stations

GRTgaz is preparing a 70-kilometer conversion between France and Germany for commercial operation expected in 2027. In the long term, between 2040 and 2050, Mr. Anger said, the company hopes. “target network” Almost 4,000 kilometers of hydrogen pipeline in the country. that “National Arteries”In order to supply large industrial ponds. almost half (“From 1500 to 2000 kilometers”) would come out of pipelines previously assigned to gas. SKnowing that the manager, which is majority owned by the gas supplier Engie (formerly GDF), has a total network of 32,000 kilometers.