Gas grids for a smart energy system

Greenhouse gas emissions, EU energy import dependency, increasing energy demand, affordability and many other factors cause decision makers to rethink energy use, production, transportation and storage. In order to achieve the energy efficiency goals, the European Commission supports strongly the development of smart energy grids. The gas network and gas utilisations will play a major role in achieving the efficiency goals and will enable cost saving solutions for many problems encountered by the electricity networks in the future. The major benefits of gas and smart gas grids show its essential role in an overall energy mix program: - lowering greenhouse gas emissions, - increasing the share of renewable energy (biomethane, Syngas, injection of H2,...), - optimising the intermittent production of renewable energy, - contributing to improve the security of supply, - improving energy efficiency by enabling active participation of the end-users, - creating the conditions for efficient use of energy networks, giving consumers the ability to choose the most economic energy source in real-time, and at the same time save energy, - avoiding costly investments in electricity grids by using existing gas networks and gas appliances, - enabling consumers to become “prosumers” by using gas to lower the ‘peaks’ in the electricity network and to reduce energy loss in the electricity transmission and distribution networks; - enabling synergies between gas and electricity networks through the encouragement of distributed generation. Clean and efficient energy emphasizes the need for a modernised, smart and flexible energy infrastructure at all levels to allow more flexible back-up and balancing power capacity, storage systems, new energy usages such as CNG an LNG vehicles and demand-response programs. This stresses the need to ensure greater cooperation between all stakeholders with the end-user as a “central player”.