A Dutch utility company started a three-year pilot replacing natural gas with hydrogen gas, transported via the existing grid in the town of Lochem.
The Dutch town of Lochem, location of the hydrogen pilot - (Image Credit: Jan van der Wolf via Shutterstock / HDR tune by Universal-Sci)
As of December 2022, twelve homes in the Berkeloord district are the first to be heated using hydrogen transported over the existing natural gas infrastructure. The pilot is initiated by the utility company Alliander as it prepares to meet the requirements of the Dutch Climate Agreement.
The Netherlands will phase out natural gas in the coming years. However, there exists a vast natural gas infrastructure, as the majority of the country has been heated by natural gas for the better part of a century.
With this pilot, Alliander aims to examine whether the existing natural gas infrastructure is also suitable for transporting more sustainable hydrogen gas.
A mechanic installing a Hydrogen boiler - (Image Credit: Alliander)
Benefits for older homes
Twelve old 'monumental houses' received a thorough technical inspection looking at aspects such as heat loss, current natural gas consumption, insulation options, and whether the new hydrogen boilers can meet the expected heating requirements.
If the pilot is successful, this could mean a breakthrough for older homes in particular, as systems that are used in modern homes, such as heat pumps or a district heat network, are not a viable option for these types of houses.
Daan Schut, CTO of Alliander, stated that renewable gases such as hydrogen are much needed to make our energy supply sustainable, as it is not possible to do that with electricity alone.
According to Schut, several large manufacturing companies have put forward concrete plans to make the switch to hydrogen to power their production processes. In the future, hydrogen will also be a feasible energy source for whole residential areas.
These typical Dutch monumental homes common in the country are very pretty, but it is nigh-on-impossible to insulate them properly for the use of a heat pump - (Image Credit: Martin Bergsma via Shutterstock / HDR tune by Universal-Sci)
Schut: ''What makes this pilot in Lochem so special is that we are the first network operator to use our existing gas network to transport hydrogen.''
The company expects that hydrogen gas will play a substantial role in heating homes in the Netherlands by 2030, as the country will gradually have to phase out natural gas altogether.
Current hydrogen production is far from clean
As we often mention on this website, hydrogen is far from a clean energy source. In fact, currently, almost all hydrogen produced in the world is 'grey hydrogen,' and even blue hydrogen is not nearly as clean as it is hyped to be.
All in all, the Netherlands would have to find a solution to produce enough green hydrogen. The country doesn't get an awful lot of sun during the year, but luckily it has one resource in abundance: wind. Many wind parks are currently under construction in the area, and some of them may play a vital role in hydrogen production in the coming decade.
For now, let us hope that the pilot works out as expected so that even the many iconic monumental homes in the Netherlands can be heated sustainably in the future.
Sources and further reading:
Blue hydrogen is often hyped as clean, but in actuality, it might be even worse than burning coal (Universal-Sci)
How green is blue hydrogen? (Energy Science & Engineering)
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