Gas-hydrogen blending test for German home heating nears 30% target

A German project aimed at boosting clean energy for home heating expects to hit a key milestone of 30% "green" energy blended with natural gas heating some households south-west of the country within weeks, the company behind the project said.

The project by Netze BW is the first of its kind in Germany to supply the blended gases to households and the test site in the south-west town of Oehringen which the firm hopes could serve as a blueprint for the rest of the country.

Under efforts to move away from fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions, Germany is seeking to produce "green" hydrogen which is extracted using wind and solar power via electrolysis. It plans to store the gas or transport it to consumers on existing and a minority of new gas grids.

Europe's biggest economy aims to eventually replace natural gas, especially that from Russia, and create a new value chain for green hydrogen that it expects to be drawing from imports and domestic production.

The Oehringen "hydrogen island", an area in a town near Heilbronn with detached family homes, has been receiving a mix of natural gas plus gradually more hydrogen from its pipeline operator Netze BW - a subsidiary of utility EnBW - since autumn 2022.

Netze's adjacent regional offices in Oehringen got the blends ahead of the homes, reaching a 30% mix already last summer.

"Within the next two weeks, we will raise the share from 8% to 20% and two weeks further on, we will get to 30% in the households," project leader Heike Gruener told Reuters during a visit.

The blending happens on the Netze BW site, using bought-in renewable power which is put through an electrolysis plant.

The company wanted to show that the pipeline infrastructure and boilers, radiators and hobs can adapt to the mix without major replacements or adjustments. It said it hoped to demonstrate that repurposing Germany's huge gas infrastructure to serve homes and industry could work.

"Of course we are looking to show that 100% hydrogen can work also. But that will only be roughly in the middle of this decade," Gruener added.

Germany can capitalize on experiences well into the 1970s with town gas, made by burning coal and containing up to 50% hydrogen, she added.

"There is no noticeable difference to 100% gas," said Andreas Frasch, a pensioner who participates in the tests.

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