Electric energy from renewable sources is occasionally available in excess and must be curtailed. The expansion of renewables will further amplify this effect. To efficiently store and transport this energy, hydrogen (H2) is increasingly being produced with green electricity. However, the expansion of hydrogen infrastructure is not yet well advanced.
Green hydrogen can be converted into methane using carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from the air. This climate-neutral energy carrier can be easily fed into the existing natural gas network. This way, the stored energy can be easily transported and made available for the long term.
In the cooperative project DAC-2-E-Methane, ZBT and its partners are investigating an innovative solution for converting large amounts of electrical energy into methane. This involves researching the coupling of a Direct-Air-Capture plant (DAC) with catalytic methane synthesis.
For the project, the consortium can rely on an existing methanation plant and a hydrogen electrolyser at the ZBT site in Duisburg, Germany. “With the project funding, ZBT has the opportunity to strengthen its research and development portfolio in the field of Power-to-Gas and sector coupling technologies and build on the successful research work of previous projects,” says Dr Ulrich Gardemann, project manager at ZBT. “Besides plant design and the integration of process units, ZBT focuses on optimizing its proprietary methane synthesis.” The DAC plant is to be installed by Greenlyte Carbon Technologies in early 2025.
DAC-2-E-Methane is a flagship project that contributes to developing North Rhine-Westphalia into the most modern and climate-friendly industrial location in Europe. It is supported by numerous regional partners from the gas industry and their suppliers and customers and sets standards for the future energy industry.
The project is co-financed by the European Union and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia within the framework of the EFRE innovation competition “Energie.IN.NRW”.
Partners:
- Chair of Energy Process Engineering and Energy Systems (LEE) at the University of Duisburg-Essen
- Chair of Technical Thermodynamics (LTT) at RWTH Aachen University
- Greenlyte Carbon Technologies
Press release on the start of the DAC-2-E-Methane project
Energy Carriers and Processes Department