Innovation

Dutch 'city' begins voting on whether to switch heat supply from gas to green hydrogen made with excess renewables

Gas network will be converted to run on locally produced renewable H2 if 70% or more of residents vote 'yes'

An aerial view of Stad aan 't Haringvliet, which means City on the Herring Flow, showing local wind turbines and solar panels.
An aerial view of Stad aan 't Haringvliet, which means City on the Herring Flow, showing local wind turbines and solar panels.Photo: Stad Aardgasvrij

People living and working in the small Dutch “city” of Stad aan ’t Haringvliet have begun voting on whether their heating supply should be switched from fossil gas to 100% green hydrogen — the majority of which would be produced locally from excess wind and solar power.

Hydrogen: hype, hope and the hard truths around its role in the energy transition

Will hydrogen be the skeleton key to unlock a carbon-neutral world? Subscribe to the weekly Hydrogen Insight newsletter and get the evidence-based market insight you need for this rapidly evolving global market
Sign up now

The conversion will only happen if 70% of “residents, entrepreneurs and board members of civil society organisations with a natural gas connection” in the village vote “yes” to the move, which was the idea of a group of residents and is being supported by the local municipality of Goeree-Overflakkee, local gas/electricity distributor Stedin, and a €5.6m ($6m) subsidy from the Dutch government.

While using green hydrogen for heating has been widely slammed for requiring five to six times more renewable energy than heat pumps, it is claimed that the island of Goeree-Overflakkee has so much excess wind and solar power that existing arrays will be able to provide most of the required electricity to run the H2-producing electrolyser.
“We use green hydrogen. This is possible because we produce more green energy than we use,” says the project website. “We do not need to build additional wind or solar farms. We convert the energy we do not use into green hydrogen.

“We use the existing gas pipeline network for transport to your home.”

It adds: “If there is a shortage of local green electricity to make hydrogen, the green electricity will have to come from somewhere else. To ensure that this electricity is also green, we only buy electricity with the 'green' certificate. This way we know for sure that there is always enough green electricity to make hydrogen.”

Like other hydrogen heating trials elsewhere, a new H2 boiler, pipework adjustments and a new meter will be installed free of charge. But unlike other hydrogen heating trials, gas cookers and fireplaces will be replaced with electric alternatives through “customised subsidies”, rather with H2-burning equipment.
This avoids the problem of the high levels of harmful NOx gases emitted from naked hydrogen flames (due to a reaction with nitrogen in the air) — which contributed to a public outcry at a planned village heating trial in Whitby, northwest England — but these molecules can be converted into safer gases inside boilers using similar technology to catalytic converters in cars.

Subsidies are also available for those that would prefer to switch to a different natural-gas free solution such as a heat pump, but it is not clear if this funding would be sufficient to cover all the relevant costs.

Residents will also receive hydrogen-detecting equipment that will test the pipeline for leakage every 24 hours, and an odorant will be added to the H2, so “if hydrogen does leak, you will smell it”.

Voting, costs and safety

Voting in Stad aan ’t Haringvliet — literally “City on the Herring Flow”, the latter being the name for the North Sea inlet on which the town sits — began on Saturday and will run until 30 June.

The 1,480 residents and other eligible voters are being asked two questions: Voters will be asked two questions: “Do you want to become natural-gas-free by 2025?; and Do you want to achieve this by jointly switching to green hydrogen or through your own natural gas-free solution such as a heat pump?”

If an eligible voter does not cast a vote, that will count as a “no”.

“Anyone in Stad aan 't Haringvliet who opts for hydrogen will not pay more than a comparable natural gas price of €0.90 per m3 including taxes and VAT for 15 years,” the project website explains.
“If the natural gas price falls below € 0.90 per m3 including taxes and VAT, a lower price for hydrogen will be charged during the period when that price is lower.
“Because more m3 of hydrogen is needed for the same heat, you pay a maximum of € 0.326 per m3 for hydrogen.”

However, no such promises are being made for those who opt for a heat pump.

In terms of safety in the home, the increased risk of explosion compared to natural gas is not mentioned, nor is there is any mention of the need to install excess flow valves or additional vents, which has been recommended in the UK.

Instead the project organisers refer to the leakage tests, the added odorant, the fact that homes would only have one source of ignition (ie, the boiler, rather than cookers or fireplaces), and that there is no risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, as there is from natural gas in the home.

“When using hydrogen, we make the system so safe that leaks are prevented,” says the website of the project, which is officially known as “Stad Aardgasvrij” — or “City Natural gas free”.

(Copyright)
HeatingGreen H2PipelinesNetherlandsEurope
Published 5 June 2023, 07:59Updated 5 June 2023, 07:59