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Power-to-gas: Decarbonization of the European electricity system with synthetic methane

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  • Yilmaz, Hasan Ümitcan
  • Kimbrough, Steven O.
  • van Dinther, Clemens
  • Keles, Dogan

Abstract

The general conclusion of climate change studies is the necessity of eliminating net CO2 emissions in general and from the electric power systems in particular by 2050. The share of renewable energy is increasing worldwide, but due to the intermittent nature of wind and solar power, a lack of system flexibility is already hampering the further integration of renewable energy in some countries. In this study, we analyze if and how combinations of carbon pricing and power-to-gas (PtG) generation in the form of green power-to-hydrogen followed by methanation (which we refer to as PtG throughout) using captured CO2 emissions can provide transitions to deep decarbonization of energy systems. To this end, we focus on the economics of deep decarbonization of the European electricity system with the help of an energy system model. In different scenario analyses, we find that a CO2 price of 160 €/t (by 2050) is on its own not sufficient to decarbonize the electricity sector, but that a CO2 price path of 125 (by 2040) up to 160 €/t (by 2050), combined with PtG technologies, can lead to an economically feasible decarbonization of the European electricity system by 2050. These results are robust to higher than anticipated PtG costs.

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  • Yilmaz, Hasan Ümitcan & Kimbrough, Steven O. & van Dinther, Clemens & Keles, Dogan, 2022. "Power-to-gas: Decarbonization of the European electricity system with synthetic methane," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:323:y:2022:i:c:s0306261922008546
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.119538
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    2. Kumaran Kadirgama & Omar I. Awad & M. N. Mohammed & Hai Tao & Ali A. H. Karah Bash, 2023. "Sustainable Green Energy Management: Optimizing Scheduling of Multi-Energy Systems Considered Energy Cost and Emission Using Attractive Repulsive Shuffled Frog-Leaping," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-19, July.
    3. Calise, Francesco & Cappiello, Francesco Liberato & Cimmino, Luca & Dentice d’Accadia, Massimo & Vicidomini, Maria, 2023. "Dynamic simulation and thermoeconomic analysis of a power to gas system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    4. Haozhe Yang & Ranjit Deshmukh & Sangwon Suh, 2023. "Global transcontinental power pools for low-carbon electricity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Liang, Shuhao & Lou, Suhua & Zhu, Ziqing & Sun, Yongping, 2025. "Flexible operation of solar-assisted carbon capture power plants considering interval-enhanced CVaR," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 378(PA).
    6. Muqing Wu & Qingsu He & Yuping Liu & Ziqiang Zhang & Zhongwen Shi & Yifan He, 2022. "Machine Learning Techniques for Decarbonizing and Managing Renewable Energy Grids," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-13, October.
    7. Raphael Souza de Oliveira & Meire Jane Lima de Oliveira & Erick Giovani Sperandio Nascimento & Renelson Sampaio & Aloísio Santos Nascimento Filho & Hugo Saba, 2023. "Renewable Energy Generation Technologies for Decarbonizing Urban Vertical Buildings: A Path towards Net Zero," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-19, August.
    8. Osama A. Marzouk, 2024. "Expectations for the Role of Hydrogen and Its Derivatives in Different Sectors through Analysis of the Four Energy Scenarios: IEA-STEPS, IEA-NZE, IRENA-PES, and IRENA-1.5°C," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-34, January.

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