NORTEGAS & Tecnalia
“Hydrogen”; a project by TECNALIA and NORTEGAS
Currently, in a new phase, we are researching and designing the future “100% hydrogen distribution networks,” which will help drive the development of green hydrogen valleys.
We’re not just developing new ways to distribute renewable gases; we’re taking part in creating a new hydrogen economy, with business opportunities along the value chain—from generation and storage to consumption… and even enabling the export of the technology.
- This generates an economic impact, but also a social one, as it represents a major step forward in the strategy to decarbonize the economy in industrial sectors.
- In that sense, collaboration between private companies and research centers is key. Collaborations that create new opportunities as they move forward.
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This infrastructure has sensors that monitor the behavior of the network and user facilities during tests with different percentages of hydrogen mixed with natural gas, up to 20%.
HISTORY OF NORTEGAS
Nortegas is the second largest gas distribution company in the country, with over 8,100 kilometers of network and more than a million supply points in the Basque Country, Asturias, and Cantabria.
With a team of 250 professionals, they work to provide a safe, efficient, and approachable service to homes, businesses, and the industrial sector. Their commitment to innovation and development aims to move towards new energy services and contribute to people’s well-being and sustainable growth.
NORTEGAS + TECNALIA COLLABORATION
After decades of using natural gas at the domestic and industrial level, decarbonization has pushed us toward a new model. Gas companies are used to these kinds of changes. Previously, this gas had a composition based on hydrogen and hydrocarbons, and when natural gas arrived, we transformed the networks to adapt them.
“In that sense, most networks are designed for natural gas, so it’s essential to analyze what happens when mixing hydrogen in different proportions, from its integrity to the safety or operation of the network,” says Pablo Corengia, Director of Hydrogen, Materials, and Processes at TECNALIA.
In this context, NORTEGAS and TECNALIA are working closely together to research and develop solutions that help understand and address the effects of hydrogen on infrastructures, alongside industrial partners like ABC Compressors, H2Site, Erreka, Fidegas, and Orkli. To do this, we have designed a testing facility that replicates a real natural gas distribution network, with real components and a space that simulates home installations.
“This facility has sensors that monitor the behavior of the network and user installations during tests with different percentages of hydrogen mixed with natural gas, up to 20%,” points out Daniel Cuadrado, Innovation Manager at NORTEGAS.
In it, we have carried out leak detection tests, equipment and component checks, evaluation of material behavior with different percentages of hydrogen, and studies on composition variations and even stratification, among others.