Page 7 - Euroil Week 02 2020

EurOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT EurOil
Snam boosts trial use of hydrogen in gas grid
ITALY
Italy is an ideal testing ground for hydrogen, according to Snam.
ITALIAN gas grid operator Snam has injected more hydrogen into its network, as it trials the fuel’s use as a means of reducing Italy’s CO2 emissions.
The company announced on January 8 that it had raised the share of hydrogen in gas pipelines in the Contursi Termi commune of south-west- ern Italy to 10% in December, up from 5% pre- viously. The gas-hydrogen mix is being supplied to a pasta factory and a mineral water bottling plant, it said.
So-called green hydrogen, produced by elec- trolysis using solar and wind power sources, is seen by many as possible replacement for fossils fuels, as it does not produce CO2 when burnt. Snam views Italy as an ideal testing ground for the energy source, owing to the country’s exten- sive gas infrastructure and potential to produce wind and solar power.
If hydrogen accounted for 10% of the gas mix of its pipelines nationwide, Snam estimates that its annual carbon emissions would fall by 5mn
tonnes. This would mean about 7bn cubic metres of the fuel being injected each year – enough to meet the needs of 3mn households.
“Hydrogen could play a crucial role in help- ing to achieve European and global decarbonisa- tion objectives by 2050,” Snam said.
The grid operator cited a joint study it under- took with US consultancy McKinsey, which showed that hydrogen could meet almost a quar- ter of Italian energy demand by 2050, resulting in 95% decarbonisation. This scenario would be made possible by a further drop in the cost of wind and solar power, as well as electroysers, on the back of large-scale hydrogen production.
Snam CEO Marco Alvera has been a vocal advocate of hydrogen’s commercial use as an energy source. Under his leadership, Snam has set up a special unit for hydrogen research and development, and has also joined the Hydro- gen Council, a global initiative of companies that want to see hydrogen play a key role in the energy transition. ™
Transgaz hits back at reports of Moldovan pipe delays
MOLDOVA
Transgaz insists the project will be ready in the first half of 2020.
ROMANIAN gas grid operator Transgaz has denied press reports that construction of a gas pipeline to the Moldovan capital is behind schedule.
Reports have circulated this year that the pro- ject has floundered amid concerns about Roma- nian gas supply. Moldovan agency Mold-street reported this week that the pipeline would not be ready to operate until 2021.
Hitting back, Transgaz issued a statement on January 15 insisting that “work on the Ungh- eni-Chisinau pipeline is on schedule,” and will be finalised in the first half of 2020.
Moldova buys all its gas from Russia, but wants to access Romanian supplies to limit its economic dependence on Moscow. A pipeline between Iasi in Romania and Ungheni in Mol- dova was completed in 2014 but remains idle as there is no way to carry Romanian gas further into Moldova where it can be consumed.
Transgaz is in charge of extending the pipe for 120 km to Chisinau. A groundbreaking cere- mony for the project took place in February last year.
The Romanian grid is currently capable of
sending around 548mn cubic metres per year of gas to Moldova, Transgaz said. But a project is due for completion in 2021 that will expand this capacity to 2.2bn cubic metres. For com- parison, Moldova bought 2.9bcm of Russian gas in 2018.
How much gas Romania will be able to send will also depend on the success of Black Sea gas projects like Neptun Deep. OMV Petrom and ExxonMobil are yet to take a final investment decision (FID) on Neptun Deep, because of restrictive legislation that Romanian authorities are now looking to scrap.
Another issue is how much Russian gas Romania can realistically replace with its own supplies. The two suppliers will have to com- pete each with other on price – with Russia in a better position to do so because of its low pro- duction costs. Also, most of the gas Moldova buys is actually consumed at a power plant in Moscow-backed separatist Transnistria, which in turn covers most of Moldova’s electricity needs.
Switching this plant to run on Romanian sup- plies would require additional infrastructure.™
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