A comparative analysis of P2G/P2L-systems for the combined production of liquid and gaseous biofuels

About the project

Power to gas (P2G) means that power is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen by electrol­ysis. The technology has sparked a lot of interest as it enables storage of electrical power in energy gas and it could thereby be efficient for storage of excess electricity from re­newable wind, solar, or wave power. The hydrogen itself can either be used directly as a fuel or raw material, or allowed to react further with carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide into a bio­fuel or biochemical, for example methane or methanol. When the end-product is a liquid, the technology is called Power to Liquid (P2L).

Today, there is one commercial P2L-plant on Iceland and around 40 pilot and demonstration P2G/P2L-plants in Europe. There is not yet any P2G/P2L plant in Sweden, but with a growing interest, several studies have been carried out evaluating the possibilities and potential benefits of the technology with respect to conditions and locations in Sweden. In November 2016, an EU project was initiated with the aim to establish and evaluate a P2methanol pilot plant in Luleå in which carbon dioxide rich blast furnace gas from SSAB’s steel production would be combined with renewable hydrogen from intermittent electricity production.

The purpose of this project has been to identify, analyse and suggest different possibilities for P2G/P2L in Norrbotten with respect to the regional electricity market and hydrogen demands, having the bio­refinery infrastructure in Piteå as a starting point. The analysis consideres both current conditions and dif­ferent future scenarios and is a continuation of an ÅF-study from 2015 that pointed out Piteå-Luleå-Norrbotten as one of the three most appropriate locations for demonstrating P2G/P2L in Sweden.