Drivers of green gas development
News article
The Netherlands needs more green gas to meet its climate targets and become less dependent on foreign gas. Though gasification of non-fossil sources offers good prospects, this requires new, innovative technologies that have yet to be demonstrated on a large scale. Gasunie aims to be a driver of that development, and Perpetual Next is an important partner in this endeavour. ‘We complement each other perfectly,’ says Niels Wage, CEO of Perpetual Next.
Green gas has the same properties as natural gas but is sustainably produced from non-fossil sources. Until now, green gas was mainly produced through the fermentation of biomass, a biological degradation process that works well but is less suitable for scaling up to large volumes. A newer technology is gasification. This is what the Torrgas project in Delfzijl – in which Gasunie is currently collaborating with climate tech company Perpetual Next – is all about.
Urgency is increasing
To meet the climate targets, the Netherlands wants to be producing at least two billion cubic metres of green gas per year by 2030. The current geopolitical situation makes this even more urgent; we must quickly wean ourselves off Russian gas. Peter Bosma, Business Developer at Gasunie, puts the ambition into perspective: ‘Currently we as a country are at one tenth of this target, or about 230 million cubic metres per year. To meet the target, we need technologies that lend themselves to scaling up. Gasification of torrefied material has great potential for this. Gasunie wants to facilitate applying this technology on a large scale.’
Unique green gas technology, developed by Torrgas
Torrefaction is a technology that converts residual waste such as scrap wood and agricultural waste into a homogeneous, high-calorific material (pellets). The company Torrgas has developed the technology that can be used to gasify this material efficiently in just two steps. The end result is green gas that can be transported and used in exactly the same way as natural gas. Gasification is not yet widely used, however. Scaling up is often accompanied by high risk with low return, so market parties prefer to take a wait-and-see approach. And often the knowledge required to develop the technology (or develop it further) is lacking.
Gasunie has the necessary knowledge, however. From that point of view, Gasunie sees a role for itself as a driver of developments of this nature – until the market parties have sufficient confidence and are willing to step in. Gasunie always fulfils this role together with a partner, in this case Perpetual Next.
For several years now, Gasunie has been working together with a company that has put a lot of time and energy into developing this technology, Amsterdam-based Torrgas. Successful tests were carried out in 2019 at the former lab at the Energieweg location in Groningen. This gave the parties confidence in the next step. Peter says, ‘In Perpetual Next, we found a partner with sufficient financial strength to work with us to build a working installation on a commercial scale that encompasses the entire production chain. They also complement our areas of expertise: where our core tasks are transmission and storage, Perpetual Next is good at project management and operation. Moreover, they have experience with technology and a good position in the supply chain.’
Technical collaboration
Perpetual Next CEO Niels Wage agrees: ‘We complement each other perfectly. Gasunie has over sixty years of technical experience and enormous drive and a vision to contribute to bringing about the energy transition. Plenty of parties have ideas, but turning these into reality requires pioneers who understand the material and who are willing to stick their necks out. That’s what makes us a good match.’
Driver
The Dutch Gas Act is strict and clear: public enterprises like Gasunie must limit themselves to their core tasks. In Gasunie’s case this means storage and transmission of natural (and green) gas. According to Peter Bosma, the challenges are great: ‘The Russian war in Ukraine makes the situation even more urgent. With this project we can make an essential contribution to the security of the energy supply.’ Gasunie will not operate the plant: that will be done by Perpetual Next. Peter: ‘It’s all about getting this project done. That’s our driver role. We want to quickly find a party that also sees how promising this technology is and that is willing to take over our role and take on the further development together with Perpetual Next.’
Starting with 12 million cubic metres
The first gasification plant in Delfzijl has a production capacity of 12 million cubic metres and will mainly use residual waste from construction in the Netherlands and Belgium, especially scrap wood from residential construction, but also furniture. Upscaling is a good possibility, and the team is already investigating more ‘green input’. Chief Business Developer at Perpetual Next Rene Buwalda: ‘In addition to treated wood waste, we mainly look at waste from agriculture and commercial greenhouses, such as sugar beet waste, tomato foliage and sorghum (a type of grain). We want to use sources that do not compete with the food chain and are locally available as much as possible, to limit transport.’
Peter adds, ‘The war in Ukraine is putting acute pressure on the availability of gas. As a result you can see the tendency to temporarily resort to using coal for example, and that is one of the most polluting energy sources available. We really need to avoid that as much as possible. New sources such as green electricity and hydrogen are not sufficient either. Gas will always be needed, and the greener it is the better.’
Operational in 2024
Later this year, Gasunie and Perpetual Next will submit the investment decision for Torrgas Delfzijl to their respective executive boards. By that point, a lot of work will already have been accomplished. Rene explains, ‘That plan includes the plant design, operation calculations, research into clients, the sources, the construction costs... . If the boards give the go-ahead, construction can start and the plant can be up and running already by the second half of 2024.’ Peter closes: ‘Green gas is essential if we want to hit the climate targets. I am pleased that, together with Perpetual Next, we can be the drivers of this promising technology.’
Green Gas Platform
With the creation of the Green Gas Platform, the industry joined forces in 2022 to, at the request of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, jointly realise the ambitions from the 2020 Green Gas Roadmap. The result of a merger of four industry associations, the platform has captured in a long-term programme what measures are needed to scale up green gas production in the Netherlands. This programme looks at things such as support in the area of feedstock, companies’ revenue model, public support and permits, innovation and infrastructure. The overriding aim is to make it possible to scale up to 2 billion cubic metres of green gas by 2030.
Energy Minister Jetten is pleased with how this collaboration is shaping up: ‘I welcome this step that the industry is taking: integration contributes to better collaboration and is a solid basis for the development of the industry.’
You can read more about this on the Green Gas Platform website (Dutch).
