H2NG environmental-energy-economic effects in hybrid energy systems for building refurbishment in future National Power to Gas scenarios

In order to comply to the ambitious targets of European Hydrogen Strategy, Member States will strongly encourage the deployment of Power-to-Gas (PtG) technologies. A significant fraction of produced green hydrogen will be injected into the existing natural gas networks, and the end-users will be served by Hydrogen enriched Natural Gas blends (H(2)NG). The aim of this paper is to analyse the H2NG effects on technical, economic and environmental parameters of hybrid energy systems for building refurbishment. Three hybrid energy systems for the existing plants replacement have been proposed, dynamically simulated and compared with the separate generation. Fuel supply has been simulated by varying the H-2 volumetric fraction in a range between 0 and 20%vol. The H(2)NG blend employment will allow greater primary energy savings and avoided emissions. However, if the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) due to electrolysis does not decrease, those benefits will be offset by a lower economic competitiveness.(c) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This paper analyzes the effects of H(2)NG on the technical, economic, and environmental parameters of hybrid energy systems for building refurbishment, and compares them with separate generation. The results show that the use of H(2)NG blends can lead to greater energy savings and emission reductions, but these benefits may be offset by a lack of economic competitiveness if the levelized cost of hydrogen does not decrease.