Contribution of hydrogen pipelines to the flexibility of electric power systems

Abstract

Hydrogen can be produced either close to the demand sites or close to power generation sites and then transmitted to the demand sites by hydrogen pipelines. Development of renewable energy sources aimed at producing hydrogen is frequently limited by access to the electricity grid. In such cases, off-grid renewable energy sources can be developed to produce hydrogen. The intermittent nature of renewable energy sources (wind and solar photovoltaic) poses a challenge for the management of an off-grid system aimed at hydrogen production. However, hydrogen pipelines as natural gas pipelines exhibit a storage capability that can be taken advantage of. The presentation will summarize the main findings of a study carried out for the Spanish Gas Transmission Systems Operator (Enagas) on the flexibility provided to an electric power system based on intermittent energy resources by a 300 km hydrogen pipeline due to its energy storage capability.