On Tuesday, June 18th 2024, GERG officially announced the handover of its presidency. Antony Green, former Vice President of GERG, assumed the role of President, succeeding Mures Zarea from the French Utility Engie, who served with distinction over the past five years. The presidency handover took place during the 6th European Gas Technology Conference – EGATEC 2024 in Hamburg, Germany.  

In his new role Antony will bring a wealth of experience and a decisive character to stand up for and promote GERG’s vision to ensure that Europe’s energy transformation will keep Europe competitive and energy secure while providing the lowest cost road to a sustainable future.

We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Mures Zarea for his unwavering dedication and numerous contributions to GERG. Mures spearheaded the GERG Methane Emissions Working Group, which has been delivering exceptional work on acknowledging the importance of methane emissions in Europe’s transition towards a net zero environment. His leadership has been instrumental in shaping and propelling GERG’s mission and vision. A warm thank you from all GERG Members and Secretariat to Mures for these amazing 5 years.

A few words about our new President:

Antony has been leading the Future of Energy directorate at SGN since August 2023. Before that he was Hydrogen Director at National Gas. He has a 30-plus-year career across utilities and infrastructure and was instrumental in launching Project Union, NG's pioneering plan to create a UK hydrogen backbone.

Tony is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a past President of the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers.

Commenting on his appointment, Antony said:

“In our pursuit of a just and sustainable energy transition, the challenges we face resonate across Europe. GERG is playing a leading a role in this through close collaboration and shared learning, and I’m delighted to be representing the organisation through this critical period.”

GERG Secretary General Robert Judd said:  

“I am thrilled that Tony is stepping into this pivotal role, and to be working closely with him again. He already has a wealth of experience both in and outside GERG of driving collaboration across organisations and within Europe.

“Tony’s history of working in gas transmission and distribution within utilities and consultancy, will ensure he can effectively represent GERG members through the challenges of the energy transition.”

GERG welcomes the new President Antony Green and looks forward to tackle together the new challenges ahead. 

Hydrogen research takes a step forward with launch of the new EU funded project THOTH2. The project focuses on energy measurement value chain and instruments’ ability to accurately measure physical parameters of natural gas and hydrogen mixtures (H₂NG) with increasing hydrogen (H₂) percentages, up to 100%.

The Project - funded with almost 2 million euro over two and a half years by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership - is being carried out by thirteen partners: CESAME, ENAGAS, ENEA, FBK, GERG, GRTGAZ, GAZ-SYSTEM, INIG-PIB, INRIM, INRETE, METAS, SNAM and UNIBO.

More information about the project is available in the press release:

GERG – The European Gas Research Group will participate as associate partner in this year’s Baltic LNG & Gas Forum, which will be held at Amberton Hotel Klaipėda, in Klaipėda, Lithuania on 7-8 June 2023.

It is a two-day event bringing together regulators and industry decision makers to collaborate, engage, and map out the solutions for the energy demands of the Baltic region.

The agenda includes in-depth case studies on current and planned projects to create independent supply, expand infrastructure and build on existing plans to both ensure energy security and provide affordable low carbon energy with longevity. The event will bring together government officials, leaders from NOCs, TSOs, associations and more to discuss the timelines and impacts of new pipeline connections, FSRUs, and new terminals to ensure the regions gas supply.

For more information click here.

The Final THyGA Workshop has been hosted in Brussels on March 24th. 

For those who missed it, or would like to see it again, the recording of the Workshop is now available on the THyGA website  https://lnkd.in/eD497aRZ

The published results are also available on the THyGA website, and some final deliverables will be added within a month.

The beginning of 2023 has been marked by the launch of OPTHYCS, whose goal is to develop a new sensor technology that will lead to an increase in the safety level of H2 applications, as well as to anticipate eventual hydrogen application risks by minimizing potential H2 releases.

The Project is funded by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership and is being carried out by seven partners: Enagas – which will also coordinate the project -, Aragon Hydrogen Foundation, Febus, GRTgaz, GERG, Lumiker and Tecnalia. 

More information about the project is available in the press release:

Last Friday, October 28, the Gender Equality Plan has been presented, discussed and approved at the GERG Board meeting.

GERG is striving to build policies that can achieve a Union of Equality, taking into account gender differences, but also those due to age, gender, religion, disability, or race.

Our GEP is presented as a set of guidelines that can give meaning to abstract intentions and promote equality in the work environment.

This initiative is part of a recent series of #GERG projects focusing on #top-down or #site-level technologies for measuring methane emissions.

Phase II.A consisted of a series of blind tests with above-ground controlled releases, to analyse the performance of twelve different technologies to quantify methane emissions, from which nine were top-down / site-level and three were bottom-up technologies.

From the nine top-down / site-level technologies tests, the following results were obtained:

• Three technologies obtained average errors below 50 %
• For those three technologies, the deployment of a helicopter or heavy truck is required
• In these tests, drones showed the lowest performance, due to the dispersion in the plume caused by the drone itself while measuring.

The findings demonstrate the need for further research to determine how these technologies can be used to reconcile with bottom-up estimates.

The complete report is available to GERG members who participated in the project.

See the presentation here:

This GERG project has successfully tested 11 different technologies to quantify methane emissions during May 2022 in a site in operation in Belgium.

The results of this project will contribute to achieve the target of the ‘Global Methane Pledge’ and to obtain the ‘OGMP 2.0 gold standard’, a voluntary initiative coordinated by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

The initiative aims at increasing the knowledge on the reconciliation process, a key step to improve accuracy of methane emissions estimations in the gas sector.

More information in the press release:

The 10th edition of the GERG Young Researchers Awards will take place this June in association with the EGATEC conference.

Open to post-graduate students working towards a PhD or Master’s degree, the competition will see ten finalists selected for a fully-funded participation to the EGATEC Conference, with the opportunity to hold a poster presentation and a session of 5-minute pitches in front of the conference audience. After the presentations, three winners will be selected by the jury. Applications are open until the 14th of March!

THyGA: Testing Hydrogen admixtures for Gas Appliances

Hydrogen as a carbon-free fuel will play a major role in future energy supply, e.g., as an admixture gas in natural gas grids. How will the different physical and chemical properties of hydrogen-enriched natural gas impact residential and commercial gas appliances?

In our recently published paper, Jörg Leicher et al. explain the impacts of hydrogen on natural-gas fired domestic and commercial appliances from the perspective of combustion science, including emissions, safety and performance.

The paper is available online and free for download.

Read the paper in open access

Aligned with the European Commission strategy to reduce methane emissions in the EU and the Global Methane Pledge, GERG has joined efforts with ENTSOG, eurogas, GIE and marcogaz  to develop a paper shedding light on the actions taken by the gas sytem operators to mitigate methane emissions.  

We can see that further research remains paramount to improving methane leak detection, estimation and quantification, and the European gas sector is pulling together to reach those objectives. 

After a rewarding phase I of the GERG project 'Technology Benchmark for site level methane emissions quantification', the phase II.A. is already going on.

This next phase of the project consists of a series of blind tests with above-ground controlled releases.  The objective is to analyse the accuracy and repeatability of the most promising site level technologies to quantify methane emissions.  

The tests successfully took place last week in Spain, where 12 different technologies were tested: 

• 9 Top-down / site-level technologies
• 3 bottom-up technologies

You can read the press release here:

GERG recently became Member of MARCOGAZ, the Technical Association of the European Gas Industry. The close collaboration between our two associations, however, dates back decades! GERG was founded in 1961 and seven years later in 1968 MARCOGAZ was born. Both associations have worked together since the beginning for shaping the future of gas industry. Our collaboration is essential and unique as Marcogaz represents the technical wing of the gas industry and we are its research arm.

This complementary and cooperative approach has led to substantial synergies which have benefited the industry, from technical and R&D reports (such as the MEEM report) to the joint organisation of the biennial #EGATEC conferences. We continue to work closely with MARCOGAZ on our three research priorities: reduction of methane emissions, introduction of biomethane and development of hydrogen in the grid.

We look forward to continuing working hand-in-hand for a decarbonised European energy system.

The THyGA project (Testing Hydrogen Admixture for Gas Appliances) is moving forward. Read the newsletter to learn more about the latest results of the project:

• All public deliverables for Work Package 2 about the Status of gas utilisation technologies.
• The status of experimental work and testing protocols.
• The successful webinar about the impact of hydrogen blending on certification and standardization current framework.
• Hydrogen industry news.

You can register to receive future updates about the THyGA project.

GERG, along with 11 other associations, has signed a statement calling for binding 2030 EU-level objectives in lowering the greenhouse gas intensity of gas consumed in Europe and an increase of the demand for renewable gases, especially hydrogen and biomethane.

The signatories propose that by 2030 the greenhouse gas intensity of the gaseous energy consumed in Europe be reduced by at least 20% compared with 2018 level. This can be accomplished by injecting renewable gases (defined in line with the criteria of RED II) in the existing network. Signatories also propose that renewable gases represent 11% of energy content of the total gas consumed in Europe in 2030.

Finally, we recommend an increased coordination between member state in areas needing effective and rapid implementation, especially with regards to research, innovation and new technology development. Sharing knowledge and working together on this complex issue is necessary!

The signatories:

• CEDEC
• COGEN
• EBA
• GasNaturally
• Eurogas
• GIE
• EHI
• IDA
• NGVA
• GD4S
• Liquid Gas Europe

Work Package 4, dedicated to the study of the impact of hydrogen admixture on standardization and certification recentlty published its first public deliverable: D4.1. On this occasion, a workshop was organised to gather experts of certifacation and standardization but also manufacters.

More than 30 experts were around the table and discussed the questions of the impact of blending on the current standardization and certification framework. Those fruitful disucssions has been recorded and are now available:

You can dowload all the presentation on the THyGA website.

CORP organise on June 2-3 2021 the first worldwide summit about Natural Hydrogen.

Natural hydrogen, as opposed to "coloured" hydrogens, refers to the raw hydrogen found in nature in the form of the H2 molecule. Exploiting these natural hydrogen fields has many possibilities, which will be discussed in this 1st NaturalHydrogen Worldwide Summit.

The summit will bring together the key players of the natural H2 industry, and 600 online attendees. A program of high-level conferences with 60 speakers and over 30 workshops will offer in-depth insights on the topic.​

The Methane Guiding Principles group is a coalition of industry, international institutions, non-governmental organisations and academics. The main goal of the coalition is enshrined in the first of the five so-called Principles:

1. Continually reduce methane emissions

2. Advance strong performance across the gas supply chain

3. Improve accuracy of methane emissions data

4. Advocate sound policy and regulations on methane emissions

5. Increase transparency

Methane emissions have long been a research priority for GERG: the Methane Emissions Estimation Methodology project (MEEM), for example, has been the foundation of work ongoing today on a robust approach to emissions estimation. We are happy to contribute our strong R&D expertise on this international effort to reduce methane emissions.

The European Biogas Association joins GERG and GERG joins EBA!

EBA is the leading European association in the field of biogas and biomethane, committed to the development of renewable gas in Europe. EBA works closely with the different stakeholder of the biogas and biomethane sectors to develop policies which enable a scale-up of the renewable gases productions and other added values products. To accomplish this mission, EBA promotes R&D actions and technologies development.

This reciprocal membership will create strong synergies, as biomethane is a core priority for GERG.

The Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) project "Testing Hydrogen admixture for Gas Appliances", aka THyGA, is proud to release the latest deliverable of Work Package 2 about the development of the test programme for hydrogen admixture in gas-fired appliances.

Deliverable D2.5 presents the different steps in the development of the test programme, with a focus on the fruitful exchanges between THyGA partners and external stakeholders, in particular manufacturers. Learn more and read deliverable D2.5.

The Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) project "Testing Hydrogen admixture for Gas Appliances", aka THyGA, is proud to release the second deliverable about the impact of hydrogen admixture on combustion processes. This time, the report explores the expected impact of H2NG on a range of appliance designs installed in the EU.

After the deliverable D2.2, dedicated to the theorical estimation of the impact of H2 admixture, THyGA reviews results from the litterature to evaluate available knowledge on CO and NOx formation, overheating, flame temperature, flashback, H2 leakage, operational implications and efficiency of appliances supplied with H2NG blends. Learn more and read deliverable D2.3.

The Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) project "Testing Hydrogen admixture for Gas Appliances", aka THyGA, is proud to release a new deliverable about Market segmentation of domestic and commercial NaturalGas appliances.

The Deliverable D2.1: Market segmentation of domestic and commercial natural gas appliances shows which gas appliances are more widely installed today in the EU, per end-use category. This data will allow THyGA project partners to test a representative selection of burners, boilers and other appliances for various H2/NG blends.

The Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) project "Testing Hydrogen admixture for Gas Appliances", aka THyGA, is proud to release a new deliverable about the Certification & Standardization Framework for hydrogen admixture in natural gas.

Read the deliverable D4.1: Certification & Standardization Framework to learn more about the current certification and testing standardization framework for both residential and commercial appliances, and how it would be impacted by the use of hydrogen/natural gas blends.

📢 In our second major project announcement of 2021, GERG is very pleased to announce the approval by the European Commission and CEN of the European Commission funded project on pre-normative research requirements for the introduction of hydrogen into our gas networks. This is a yet another step forward in our work to support the acceleration of the decarbonisation of Europe’s gas networks and the industry’s contribution to GHG reduction targets.

📑 In development of this project, we worked closely with the European Commission’s Energy Directorate and CEN Technical Committee TC234 (Gas Infrastructure), who in turn involved stakeholders from across the CEN TCs and the wider gas and energy community to agree on eight priority areas for study. These are safety, gas quality, underground storage, power generation, industrial use, steel pipes, network equipment and appliances. The eight priorities relate closely to the height of the barrier to hydrogen introduction. A GERG member company will lead on each of the eight priorities.

A Supervisory Board formed as a new Working Group within CEN TC234 will oversee the programme. The work will analyse the current state of knowledge, building on earlier projects such has the GERG Hydrogen in Pipeline Systems (HIPS) report. It will then look closely at gaps in knowledge, particularly in relation to standardisation needs, and recommend pre-normative research actions to accelerate the removal of the gaps. The work looks at both H2 blends and “100%” hydrogen systems.

GERG consists of members of the gas industry and research and academia from over 12 countries, and began its work to define gas industry requirements for the introduction of hydrogen around two decades ago. We are closely associated with many of the major actors in the development of the hydrogen roadmap, including Hydrogen Europe Research (a reciprocal member). GERG is also an active member of many hydrogen-focused initiatives at European level.

💡 The GERG member community is really happy to be delivering this project for CEN, and will bring the expertise and knowledge of more than 20 operating gas companies and research institutes and universities, as well as the vast expertise of the CEN TC234-based Supervisory Board. We will link closely with other initiatives both in Europe and worldwide, and draw on developing knowledge in other ongoing projects to ensure as far as possible that the results are both comprehensive and unique.

The project will run until November 2021, and will receive funding of €1.1M from the European Commission via CEN.

📢 GERG is very pleased to announce the approval by the European Commission and CEN of the second phase of its major European Commission funded project on removing the technical barriers to the introduction of biomethane into gas networks and gas appliances (including vehicles). The project supports the acceleration of the decarbonisation of Europe’s gas networks and helps to improve the contribution of the industry to GHG reduction targets.

💡 The workplan has been developed in close collaboration with CEN Technical Committee, CEN TC408, and a Supervisory Board chaired by TC408 will oversee the work. CEN 408 develops and maintains standards associated with the introduction of biomethane in gas networks, and the use of natural gas and biomethane in vehicles. This work will enable the revision of the associated standards and ensure they are fit for purpose and not detrimental to the development of the biomethane industry which is an important element of the European Commission decarbonisation strategy and the Green Deal.

Following successful delivery of the first €1,3M Phase of the Project in 2019, this €1,8M contract, the second of three, will begin detailed experimental campaigns on siloxanes, sulphur and oxygen (particularly in relation to underground storage). It will also commence work on further detailed understanding of European Biomethane compositions, particularly at the trace component level, in the context of optimising upgrading and purification processes.  A third, overlapping phase of work, worth a further €3M and completing the work programmes is expected to commence later this year.

GERG consists of members of the gas industry and research and academia from over 12 countries, and has long-term and continuing links to gas biomethane actors in Europe (including the members of EBA-European Biogas Association, NGVA Europe- Natural & bio Gas Vehicle Association, Eurogas and Marcogaz), and also has connections to appliance manufacturers and end-users groups.

The unique GERG perspective will contribute not only to a consensus position with respect to the individual challenges, but a high probability of understanding any outlying positions from a production and network impact perspective.  The work will be completed at member laboratories around Europe, and will be led technically by ENGIE.

📢 On November 23rd, the new OGMP2.0 framework was launched. This methane emission reporting framework is the new gold standard that will improve the accuracy of reporting focusing on the whole Oil&Gas value chain including midstream and downstream.

The OGMP partnership is an initiative of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) led by the United Nation Environment Program (UNEP), the European Commission and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

How many compagnies are involved?

❓ 62 companies from all continents representing 30% of the world's Oil&Gas production have already joined the partnership.

💡 GERG, with its industry members, recently developed a Methane Emissions Estimation Methodology project (MEEM) for DSOs, that has assessed all international best practice and has used this to develop a consistent and robust approach to emissions estimation which can be used as an industry standard.

💡 The Marcogaz assessment paper which is based on MEEM expanded using Marcogaz’ 2005 methodology for TSOs, LNG terminals and UGS, is currently the basis of a new European Standards Agency (CEN)  working group to turn the approach into a CEN Technical Report. We expect this to be used as a standardized methodology in the OGMP 2.0 scheme as a foundation for a framework for reporting in the downstream gas value chain.

📧 Contact us if you are interested in knowing more about our work on understanding and mitigating methane emissions in the downstream gas industry.

The Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) project "Testing Hydrogen admixture for Gas Appliances", or THyGA organised its third online workshop: IMPACT OF HYDROGEN ADMIXTURE ON RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL COMBUSTION PROCESSES the 30th of October 2020.

🎉This webinar was a success with more than 260 attendees, and we would like to thank the participants for the interesting exchanges they had with the THyGA team!

Do you want more information on the impact of hydrogen admixture on combustion processes?

➡ Visit the THyGA site to learn more about the webinar and download the deliverable:  WEBINAR “IMPACT OF HYDROGEN ADMIXTURE ON RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL COMBUSTION PROCESSES INSIGHTS FROM COMBUSTION SCIENCE”

The Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) project "Testing Hydrogen admixture for Gas Appliances", or THyGA organised its second online workshop: MATERIALS SCIENCE - IMPACTS OF HYDROGEN BLENDS the 26th of October 2020.

🎉This webinar was a success with more than 210 attendees, and we would like to thank the participants for the interesting exchanges they had with the THyGA team!

❓ Do you want more information on the impact of hydrogen admixture on materials?

➡ Visit the THyGA site to learn more about the webinar and download the deliverable:  Webinar “MATERIALS SCIENCE – IMPACTS OF HYDROGEN BLENDS”

📢 HyResource is the new single source of information on key hydrogen-related organisations, policies and projects in Australia with supporting information on New Zealand. A collaboration between National Energy Resources Australia (NERA), CSIRO, Australian Hydrogen Council and Future Fuels CRC, HyResource acts as a reliable source of information that can be accessed by all stakeholders involved in the development of Australia’s hydrogen industry.

💡 The benefits of this hydrogen knowledge sharing initiative include reducing search costs, filling stakeholder knowledge gaps and helping accelerate the development and deployment of clean hydrogen as a low-emissions energy source.

🔄 Knowledge sharing efforts like HyResource are critical at this time as developments in hydrogen across the full value chain are evolving at speed and impacting many sectors of the economy.

🔍 HyResource is available here: https://research.csiro.au/hyresource/

Latest News from GERG for the 2020 Summer period: Hydrogen Strategy, updates from Working Groups and projects, project proposals and event summaries.

Read here

For membership-exclusive content, visit the GERG Community site!

The great ACT project ELEGANCY, led by Sintef, is coming to a close this summer, and has prepared a flourish of webinars for all interested in Hydrogen and Carbon Capture and Storage:

• 18 June: Hydrogen and CCS – one of the cornerstones of the European Green Deal
• 19 June: Unlocking opportunities and addressing challenges for large-scale hydrogen provision in Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Norway
• 22 June: Hydrogen supply and CO2 injection and storage
• 23 June: Business case development and hydrogen-CCS chain tool

The webinars are free of charge, more information and registration on: https://blog.sintef.com/sintefenergy/elegancy-webinar-series-on-ccs-and-hydrogen/.

The Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) project "Testing Hydrogen admixture for Gas Appliances", or THyGA, is organising its first online workshop the 6th of May 2020 (10.00/12.00 AM and 1.00/3.00 PM CET, incl. virtual lunch break).

To get the connection information, please send your confirmation of attendance to contact_thyga@engie.com.

The workshop will present first research results, and discuss the specific consequences of hydrogen blending for the gas appliances sector, with the participation of researchers, manufacturers and associations.

Agenda:

• Insight on THyGA’s first research contents
• EU market segmentation of gas appliances
• Focus topic: development of a protocol for testing H2 admixture
• Discussion of the testing procedure of gas appliances with manufacturers, researchers and associations
• Discussion and questions related to the addressed topics
  

Download the invitation below:

Latest News from GERG for the 2020 Spring period: Moving forward under the COVID-19 regime, Project updates, New project proposals and Events.

Below a document presenting projects currently open to new partners:

• Assessment of methane emission from gas utilisation
• Sparcling Phase 2, LFL distances for small scale representative LNG releases
• Weathering of stored LNG

Latest News from GERG for the 2019 Winter period: Hydrogen Momentum, Project updates, New project proposals and Events.

Download our last newsletter here !

Murès Zarea of Engie has been elected to replace Isabelle Moretti as President of GERG, with official transfer of duties during the Board meeting in Copenhagen.  Murès has over 30 years of gas R&D experience and a long association with GERG. He also sits on the Board or in high level committees in other associations such as EASE, EPRG PRCI and IGU. As such he is perfectly placed to build more bridges for GERG in the gas and energy research community.  We welcome Murès, and look forward to working closely with him over the coming years.