Power-to-gas - storage concepts for renewable energy

Power-to-gas is a technology that can significantly support the integration of renewable energies into existing energy infrastructures. Beyond this the implementation of power-to-gas will lead to a further merging of ­the power and natural gas grids, which marks an important step forward on the way to a future energy system. ­ To evaluate the potential of the technology, as a basis for future political measures and as a precondition for ­successful pilot plants, it is important to develop realistic system concepts. Moreover, the expected costs for the technologies and their products (hydrogen and methane) need to be estimated. These tasks are addressed in the DVGW R&D project "Energy Storage Concepts" and were discussed at the DBI Panel on "Energy storage concepts and hydrogen 2011" in Berlin. Preliminary results from the DVGW R&D project and statements of the panel discussion will be explained below.