The drastic climate change owing to the increasing carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases have led to a major transformation in the energy systems of different countries. Different targets have been put forward by countries to minimize their carbon dioxide emission. Most countries have been aiming to turn carbon neutral by 2050. In order to achieve the set target, different innovations are being made to upgrade the energy storage systems so as to be able to incorporate the renewable sources of energy, further accelerating the transition toward a carbon-neutral economy in a sustainable way. Photovoltaic panels and wind energy are considered to have high potential to generate electricity and transform the electrical system into an energy-efficient one. However, the generation of electricity with the help of renewable sources of energy leads to a further need for storage or transmission to other forms of energy, which can be consumed. The inclusion of renewable sources of energy to develop a well-integrated energy system requires proper designing, planning, and implementation.
The power-to-gas technology has been pivotal in fulfilling the significantly high energy requirements since its introduction. The entire ecosystem of electricity production plays a crucial role in storing energy. Therefore, huge investments, along with intensive R&D, are currently being made by various key companies to enhance the energy storage capacity with the help of renewable sources of energy. Moreover, the ongoing environmental concerns have further been escalating the requirement of innovative changes in energy consumption patterns.
The concept of power-to-gas is looked upon as a promising innovation that would complement the integration of renewable energy resources such as photovoltaic panels and wind panels with electrolyzers and methanation equipment to produce green gases such as hydrogen and methane. Power-to-gas is a potential innovation that provides flexibility in terms of electric infeed, and the overall efficiency of the conversion process is high. It works well with the existing gas network and is of much use to facilitate the seasonal storage of energy. The gases thus produced as a major product from power-to-gas plants further help in decarbonizing different end-user industries such as steel industry, gas grid, and automotive, among others.
The entire power-to-gas concept revolves around the generation of green gas with the help of renewable sources of electricity, whereby water is broken into hydrogen and oxygen with the help of electrolysis. The green hydrogen gas thus produced is either used directly or transported through the gas grid to serve different application areas or processed further with the help of the methanation process to produce methane by blending with carbon dioxide. The following figure showcases the entire process of power-to-gas in a nutshell.
The utility of the power-to-gas concept has been gaining traction due to the rising need for deploying utility-scale energy storage solutions. Although technology is theoretically much researched and studied, the practical operation is still growing and has not touched the point of full-fledged commercialization. The majority of the power-to-gas plants are currently operating on the pilot basis, while supported with the assistance of government funding and subsidies. At this point, the establishment of the power-to-gas facility is expensive, although, due to the materialization of learning curves, it has been anticipated that the high capital costs are bound to decline. The following figure showcases that the power-to-gas concept is in the valley of the death stage and requires a huge governmental push to penetrate the market and operate on a commercial basis.
Europe has a favorable framework in terms of policies and tariffs that lay grounds for market incentives and create an opportunity for the growth of power-to-gas facilities. Countries such as Germany have been heavily investing in power-to-gas plants as an attempt to decarbonize their economy and achieve the targets set for 2030. Many other countries have been incorporating power-to-gas in order to be in line with the Paris Agreement (2015) and cut down on their usage of fossil fuels so as to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions.
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Hydrogen is the most produced gas in the power-to-gas market. The production of hydrogen with the help of electrolysis in power-to-gas plants is widely being considered as an energy vector as it emits no greenhouse gases or toxic pollutants. In an aim to achieve ambitious targets set by different countries to become an energy-efficient economy, the countries need to adopt hydrogen into their power generation systems, building sector and transportation sector, among others.
The competitive landscape of the power-to-gas market consists of different strategies undertaken by major players across the entire value chain to gain market presence. Some of the strategies adopted by power-to-gas technology manufacturers and plant installers are product launches, mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, and collaborations. Among all the strategies adopted, partnerships, collaborations, and contracts have dominated the competitive landscape. Hydrogenics Corporation, ITM Power PLC, Nel ASA, and MAN Energy Solutions, are some of the leading players in the global power-to-gas market. To increase their overall global footprint, technology manufacturers are expanding their businesses and are also entering into strategic partnerships to target a greater audience.
EXYTRON GmbH, Hitachi Zosen Inova Ag, Hydrogenics Corporation, ITM Power PLC, and MAN Energy Solutions are some industry players that have remained in the limelight since last few years due to their developments in the field of power-to-gas.
UPCOMING INDUSTRY TRENDS 