Storengy is to launch the MethyCentre project, a demonstrator unit for power-to-gas coupled with a methanation unit in France, which will produce gasses for consumption in the Centre-Val de Loire region, the French natural gas storage operator said Tuesday.
The demonstrator is made up of a power-to-gas unit and anaerobic digester that will utilize local wind and photovoltaic power production as well as the carbon dioxide of the biogas produced by the methanation site.
Eventually the installation, the commissioning of which is scheduled for 2021 will produce three carbon-free gases: bio-methane, hydrogen and synthetic methane that will be then supplied to customers in the Centre-Val de Loire region where the installation is located.
The resulting gasses will be injected into the local distribution network or the underground storage site at Cere-la-Ronde providing energy to domestic, industrial and green mobility users, Storengy said.
Power-to-gas allows surplus renewable electricity to be transformed into hydrogen or synthetic methane, while a methanation unit converts carbon dioxide to methane.
Further development of power-to-gas technologies comes after French Minister for Ecological and Solidarity Transition Nicolas Hulot announced a hydrogen development plan at the start of June, which pledged Eur100 million of investment in its development from 2019.
Storengy is a subsidiary of Engie which operates European natural gas underground storage, including facilities in France, Germany and the UK.
