The energy transition has moved up a gear. Roofs and fields are being fitted out with solar panels, while wind farms and green gas facilities are being built in more and more places. Alliander is playing its part in this transition. However, there are still many challenges to achieving a sustainable future.
Green gas production is increasing – so much that, over the summer months, more gas will be produced than used. This creates an oversupply of green gas in local gas networks, and we have not found a suitable solution to this problem yet. At the moment, green gas production cannot be easily scaled up or down. This makes it difficult to expand the use of green gas.
Currently, approximately 200 million m3 of green gas is being fed into the network in the Netherlands. The Climate Agreement aims to produce 2 billion m3 of green gas by 2030; that’s 10 times the current amount. The share of green gas as a percentage of total gas consumption will increase from 0.5% now to 5% in 2030. So, the problem of oversupply in the summer months will only increase.
Do you have a solution that will solve this problem? Perhaps by better aligning the supply of green gas with demand or by increasing the use of green gas in the summer months?
Send us your pitch!
About us
Liander, part of Alliander, is responsible for the gas network and electricity grid for a large part of the Netherlands. We have 7,000 professionals who keep the lights on and the heating going at around 3 million homes and companies. Alliander is a group comprising various operating companies. The network operator Liander makes sure that energy is distributed smoothly around all our networks, day in and day out. Qirion focuses on developing sustainable technology and smart energy infrastructures. The metering company Kenter supplies innovative energy metering and management solutions.
What are we looking for?
Much more gas is used in the colder months than in the summer. This is because we use gas primarily for heating, so obviously less is needed in the warmer months. Green gas production cannot yet be easily scaled up or down. So, if we want to feed a constant flow of green gas into our network, this can currently be no more than our minimum consumption, see figure 1.
Figure 1: Profile of gas consumption (blue line) and green gas (green line) that is fed into the grid. For the translation of this figure, see chapter ‘Translation of figures’ in appendix.
The gray shaded part between the two lines cannot be fed in as green gas now. We are looking for solutions that allow us to incorporate this.
Therefore, our core question is: 'How can we solve the seasonal drop in demand for green gas?'
We can see the following possible solution directions:
- Match the supply of green gas to demand at all times, for example by scaling production up and down, or by buffering/storing the gas in summer.
- Increase the demand for/use of green gas in the summer months (near green gas production sites).
- Increase the market for green gas by transporting it from the local network to regional and national networks or by any other means.
So, the solutions can be found in the gas network itself, but also in green gas providers or in customers.
For a further explanation about potential solution directions, please see the background information below, which includes an explanation about how our gas network is structured.
What aren’t we looking for?
- Solutions that do not comply with the Dutch Gas Act*
- Solutions that compromise safety or the quality of the gas network
- Burning off excess green gas is not an acceptable solution
- Existing solutions:
- Network connections between different areas that allow more customers to be reached
- Boosting/compressing (low pressure or high pressure)*
- *See appendix for more green gas guidelines and an article on booster pilot results.
What are we offering?
We are offering an innovation budget of €10,000 to €100,000 for developing a prototype or pilot.
The range for the innovation budget is so large because we cannot foresee what solutions will be submitted. The budget depends on the specific type of solution. Opportunity for a follow-up project, scaling up, or lasting collaboration if the pilot is successful. If the solution requires a substantial investment in our gas network, a European tender will follow.
- Opportunity for a test environment.
- Interesting network of collaboration partners.
- In addition, you can count on support and collaboration from creative and inspiring specialists, who can challenge you to make your product even better.
Assessment criteria
- Impact
- Feasibility (technical & business case)
- Innovation
- Scalability
Conditions of participation
- Registered with the Chamber of Commerce (KvK)
- Able to launch a pilot project within 3 to 6 months and give a demo of a working prototype/product/service
Your submission (max 6 pages/18 slides)
- Business model incl. value propositie:
- What is the propositoin of the product. And what is your business case?
- Description of the concept
- How does the product solves the problem?
- Workings of the product
- In what phase of development is the product?
- Description of the pilot:
- What do you want to test?
- What is your timeline?
- What do you need from Alliander (access/materials/data)
- What costs are necessary - budget and sources
- Growth potential
- The pilot is a success: then what?
- Give us a rough sketch of the growth path
- What is necessary for that?
- What are the risks?
- The team (optionally. LinkedIn profiles)
- Why are you the team to make this product a success?
You are free to choose the format in which you submit your pitch (presentation, slide deck, document), but you must also upload it as a PDF file (portrait or landscape A4, maximum 30MB). Video clips, website mock-ups, etc. may be included as links. Pitches in English are allowed.
Challenge timeline
- Week 26: Challenge launch
- End of August: (non-mandatory) Information meeting - view the questions and answers here
- 19 September, 17.00: Challenge deadline
- By the end of September: Shortlist announced
- October: Live pitches / interview with the shortlisted pitchers
- Q4 2022: Start implementing pilot
Background information
What is green gas?
Green gas is now mainly produced from compostable waste, sewage water, manure and other biomass streams. The ability to produce green gas on a small scale from manure on the farmyard itself, as shown in Figure 2, is a new development.
This means green gas is a sustainable variant of natural gas and is produced by upgrading biogas to the same quality level as natural gas. The green gas produced is clean and renewable.
Figure 2: Diagram of green gas production, upgrading and feeding into the gas network. For the translation of this figure, see chapter ‘Translation of figures’ in appendix.
Our gas network
Liander’s gas networks start from the custody transfer stations (where the gas is transferred from the national grid operator to the regional grid operator). The gas flows through the high-pressure transport network (1 – 8 bar) to district or delivery stations. Large business customers, in particular, are connected to the transport network. The district stations reduce the gas to a lower pressure and distribute it within the low-pressure distribution network. It is households and small business customers that are mainly connected to this network, see figure 3.*
Figure 3: Diagram of the current structure of the Dutch gas network. For the translation of this figure, see chapter ‘Translation of figures’ in appendix.
MTN: Main transport network
RTS: Regional transport system
RNO: Regional network operator
*You can find an extensive diagram of our gas network in the attachment.
Network operators' current thoughts for solutions
Through the association of Dutch energy network operators (Netbeheer Nederland or NBNL), operators have agreed to allow green gas to be fed into our gas networks for at least 8,000 hours a year. We are currently doing this by:
- connecting networks;
- installing booster stations; These are where gas from one part of the network is compressed and fed into another part of the network at a higher pressure. The gas can then be transported further and reach more customers. This is actually a two-way system in the gas network. See Figure 4.
Figure 4: Diagram of the future structure of the Dutch gas network. For the translation of this figure, see chapter ‘Translation of figures’ in appendix.
The challenges here include the lead times for modifying the gas network, compression losses and additional cost of network management.
Are there any solutions to solve this further upstream in the system?
Examples of other solution directions include:
- Potential for buffers
As a network operator, we are limited to installing pipes and transporting energy. We are not permitted by law to buffer energy through large-scale storage. Gas storage can be provided by green gas producers, natural gas producers, and commercial parties – not by the national or regional network operators.
- Flexibility in production capacity – variable production
The production of green gas is a constant process for the time being. As a result, producers cannot yet respond to the user profile. As a network operator, we have no influence over this. However, there are opportunities for both producers and the network operator to increase the feed-in of green gas.
- Business case for multiple parties
A solution that benefits both the gas provider and us as the network operator, and the party offering the solution. This may be due to the increase in gas fed in by the producer and/or network investments by the network operator.
- Growing the market
Using technological solutions to grow the market for green gas by influencing the purchase of gas.