LOS ANGELES, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California
Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced the successful installation of a
novel bioreactor system that will be used to test power-to-gas
technology at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado. Power-to-gas technology
is a cutting-edge method of storing excess renewable energy. The
project is the first of its kind in the
United States converting hydrogen generated from excess
renewable power into pipeline quality methane for use in homes,
businesses and in transportation. A photo of the reactor is
available here.
Last month, researchers at NREL's Energy Systems Integration
Facility (ESIF) in Golden,
Colorado, installed a 25-foot tall bioreactor system, which
will be used to produce renewable natural gas from excess renewable
electricity using archaea microorganisms that consume hydrogen and
carbon dioxide and emit methane.
"Power-to-gas technology can significantly increase the overall
amount of renewable energy we use, by providing an economical
method of storing excess solar-and wind-generated electricity,"
said Jeff Reed, director of business
strategy and advanced technology at SoCalGas. "And this technology
takes advantage of existing infrastructure, and can hold excess
renewables for days, weeks or months to shift solar from day to
night, address weather patterns and even seasonal patterns."
"Archaea are uniquely capable of handling fluctuating levels of
hydrogen produced by electrolyzers as wind and solar generation
systems cycle up and down," said Kevin
Harrison, senior engineer for NREL. "That's in part why we
believe this technology could provide a superior large-scale,
cost-effective solution for storing excess renewable energy using
our nation's natural gas distribution system."
According to a 2017 Lawrence Berkley National Lab study, by
2025, between 3,300 and 7,800 gigawatt-hours of excess solar and
wind energy will be curtailed in California. If all that excess solar and wind
energy were converted to methane through the biomethanation process
and stored as renewable natural gas, it would provide enough
renewable energy to heat 158,000 to 370,000 homes or provide
renewable electricity to 80,000 to 187,000 homes.
The pilot project will be used to help assess the commercial
viability of this power-to-gas approach to energy storage and
provide insights into potential megawatt-scale system designs. The
team will combine these insights with renewable energy resource
data to identify optimal locations in California and the western half of the U.S.
where this grid-scale energy storage would be the most beneficial
and cost-effective.
Power-to-gas technology uses renewable electricity when prices
are low—including times when renewable supply exceeds demand and
would otherwise be wasted—to power an electrolyzer, which splits
water to produce hydrogen. The hydrogen is then combined with
carbon dioxide and fed to a biomethanation reactor where it is
converted into renewable natural gas, or RNG, by special
micro-organisms. RNG can be used in any application currently
served by natural gas, from home appliances to industrial
processes, heavy duty vehicle engines and power plants.
The research will also test how effectively the microbes
convert hydrogen to methane and how efficiently the storable
methane can be converted back to electricity. Tests will also
examine the potential of power-to-gas technology to store large
quantities of renewable energy for up to an entire year and how it
compares in performance and cost to battery storage. Initial
reports are expected beginning in 2018. The study will continue for
several years.
About SoCalGas
Headquartered in Los Angeles,
SoCalGas® is the largest natural gas distribution utility in
the United States, providing
clean, safe, affordable and reliable natural gas service to 21.7
million customers in Central and Southern
California. Its service territory spans 22,000 square miles
from Fresno to the Mexican border,
reaching more than 550 communities through 5.9 million meters and
101,000 miles of pipeline. More than 90 percent of Southern California single-family home
residents use natural gas for home heat and hot water. In addition,
natural gas plays a key role in providing electricity to
Californians—about 60 percent of electric power generated in the
state comes from gas-fired power plants.
SoCalGas has served communities in California for 150 years and is committed to
being a leader in the region's clean energy future. The company has
committed to spending $6 billion over
the next five years to modernize and upgrade its gas
infrastructure, while also reducing methane emissions. SoCalGas is
working to accelerate the use of renewable natural gas, a
carbon-neutral or carbon-negative fuel created by capturing and
conditioning greenhouse gas emissions from farms, landfills and
wastewater treatment plants. The company is a subsidiary of Sempra
Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company
based in San Diego. For more
information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on
Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook.
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SOURCE Southern California Gas Company