The report “Baseline and case studies definition” aims to develop the basics which are of fundamental importance for the further tasks in work package 5 of the HIGGS project. The report is divided into three main chapters. The section on baseline includes studies on the present and future consumption of natural gas and hydrogen in Europe up to 2050. Furthermore, the current production and use of hydrogen is discussed and how it influences the physical and chemical properties when it is admixed with natural gas.
The first part of the case studies section is dedicated to the conceivable blending levels of hydrogen in the natural gas grid, the hydrogen sources, and consumers of hydrogen and/or natural gas blends. In order to protect hydrogen-sensitive customers, hydrogen separation technologies are briefly discussed, and it is explained how they can be integrated into a simulation model. Afterwards, the basic operating strategy of transmission system operators (TSO) and economic aspects of the gas pipeline system are described and brought in context with the case studies. Finally, the current transport system in the European context is discussed and regions are presented that could be suitable for an in-depth analysis.
In the last third of this documentation, the methodology for network modelling is discussed. It clarifies the approach of the modelling tasks, where the data on the transmission network and gas consumption comes from and which quality. Also, the boundary conditions of this network analysis task is discussed. In addition, the reader is given a first insight into the scope of our investigations in the further task. The section concludes with the basics of computer-aided network calculations and an analysis of software that can be used for network modelling.
