Looking to the future with green energy

Experts and politicians agree at the second Power-to-Gas Congress that green hydrogen will play a role in energy supply or as a storage solution. However, the extent to which H₂ becomes an important source of energy for Switzerland and helps to close the winter power gap depends heavily on the framework conditions and is still open.

Professor Andreas Züttel explains why hydrogen is an important energy carrier for Switzerland at the 2nd Power-to-Gas Congress in the Umwelt Arena Schweiz in Spreitenbach AG. Source: CNG-Mobility.ch

Power-to-gas technology is a potential storage solution for energy. It converts electricity into storable hydrogen (H₂) or synthetic methane (CH₄), for example. Power-to-gas has long since left the research stage and works well, as demonstrated by Switzerland’s first industrial power-to-gas plant at the Limeco regional power plant in Limmattal, as well as other projects abroad, such as the Underground Sun Storage research project.

According to the experts, Switzerland can meet its energy needs with renewable energy sources (e.g. wind, solar or biogas), but production and demand occur during different seasons. Seasonal storage solutions will therefore play a key role in the future. Underground gas storage systems and power-to-gas plants are therefore just as much a focus as the use of hydrogen. After all, the federal government’s climate targets for 2050 can even be achieved with only renewable gases and green hydrogen fed into the gas grid.

Source: CNG-Mobility.ch

“Technologies such as power-to-gas offer great potential for a sustainable and climate-neutral energy supply by allowing electricity from renewable sources to be stored seasonally in the gas grid. A certificate of origin for green hydrogen is just as important as a verification system, so that the market can be ramped up and the green hydrogen can be traded as renewable,” explains Daniela Decurtins, Director of the Swiss Gas Industry Association (VSG), at the 2nd Power-to-Gas Congress. “The framework conditions also have to be right, with roughly a level playing field required, because currently, for example, you have to pay grid usage fees for a power-to-gas plant, but you don’t have to do so for pumped-storage systems.” Romeo Deplazes, Deputy CEO and Head of Solutions at Energie 360° AG, explains in the panel discussion: “For me, energy security in the future is inconceivable without storable energy sources such as H₂.” He adds: “When it comes to hydrogen, we must now not fall behind nations such as Norway and Austria. Today, we have to secure imports and import rights, take care of grid integration and, above all, create storage capacities in Switzerland.”

Romeo Deplazes, Deputy CEO and Head of Solutions at Energie 360° AG, SP National Councillor Gabriela Suter, moderator and Managing Director of energie-cluster.ch Frank Schürch, and SVP National Councillor Roger Köppel in the panel discussion with Daniela Decurtins, Director of the Swiss Gas Industry Association (from left to right). Source: CNG-Mobility.ch

For SP National Councillor, Gabriela Suter, the decisive factor is: “On the road to “net zero”, hydrogen can help, but it has to be green hydrogen.” The politician is particularly annoyed by the fact that Switzerland does not yet have a hydrogen strategy. “We have lost our independence due to an unsuccessful energy strategy, which means we have to deal with blackouts in highly developed Switzerland,” replies SVP National Councillor, Roger Köppel, who also demands that the energy debate is finally de-ideologized.

VSG Director, Daniela Decurtins, draws attention to the current opportunity that needs to be seized with regard to climate policy: “Switzerland has moved strongly towards electrification in recent years. By now, everyone should be aware that you should not rely on just one energy source. A mix of different energy sources and infrastructure is needed. It is therefore necessary to rethink Swiss energy and climate policy.” This must be based on the points of security of supply, profitability and sustainability, but in recent years we have lost sight of the objectives of security of supply and profitability.

The 2^nd Power-to-Gas Congress deliberately looked beyond Switzerland’s borders and discussed strategies and challenges in energy supply in Chile, Norway, Australia or – as shown in the picture during the presentation by Robert Böhm of Hitachi Zosen Inova Schmack AG – Japan. Source: CNG-Mobility.ch

In order to be able to guarantee these two points within a reasonable period of time, a number of experts are above all demanding planning reliability at the 2^nd Power-to-Gas Congress. “The framework conditions must now be created. The Limeco power-to-gas plant was only economical because the grid usage fee is not payable,” says Thomas Peyer, Managing Director of Swisspower Green Gas AG. “We now need to change and introduce new framework conditions for the production of green hydrogen.” Daniela Decurtins agrees with this, but goes one step further: “We currently have an energy system full of distortions in Switzerland. In order to achieve the climate transition and at the same time ensure a secure and economical energy supply, we need to stop what we are doing, analyse the system as a whole and derive the appropriate rules instead of introducing new detailed regulations.” (jas, 15 September 2022)