Route planner for efficient gas transport through the Netherlands

Route planner for efficient gas transport through the NetherlandsRobert van der Geest

Gas/Electric PartnershipHouston, TexasFebruary 9, 2011

The Netherlands are a "gas country"

Invention of Gas:Jan van Helmont

(1648)

Certification and Injection of Green Gas

Production of Natural Gas80 BCM (2,8 TCF) per year

History of the "gas house" of the NetherlandsNatural gas

1873 Royal Dutch Gas Association (KVGN)

1959 Groningen gas field1963 Nederlandse Gasunie

2005 Transport: Gasunie

Trade: GasTerra

2009 R&D: KEMA

Electricity

? Union of directors of electricity producers (VDEN)

1927 R&D: KEMA

1949 Collaboration of electricity producers (S.E.P.)

1989 Transport: TenneT

2010 Power Matching CityHoogkerk

KEMA around the globe

Towards further integration of gas and electricity networks

TTF

Smart gridMicro CHPWind powerHoogkerk

Growing challenge of gas transport in a changing world of energy Liberalization of the gas market leads to

greater complexity Integration of renewable energy leads to

greater volatility Network operators face regulatory pressure to

cut operational cost Pressure from the public on environmental

targets

Provide safe and reliable gas transport against minimal cost, in a way that spares the environment as much as possible

Target to reduce the CO2 footprint of gas transport by 20 percent in 2020

[kton CO2e]

[€/ton CO2e]

Ranking of measures using an abatement curve

Emission reducing measures…

6. Route planner for gas transport…

11.Electric compressors…

6

11

11. Electric compressors

Construction of the electric Noord-Holland Compressorstation at Anna Paulowna:

6. Route planner for gas transportSystem parameters ~15000 km (~10000 miles) ~100 entry points ~1000 exit points Exit capacity ~1 BCM/day (~1 Bcf/h) 5 different gas qualities

Route planner specifications Online tool Minimize operational cost

– Compression– Nitrogen– Line-pack

Maintain security of supply Transient system Empirical models

Interaction of the route planner with gas network operators ("dispatchers")

The route planner runs in the background, producing gas transport plans autonomously

Day-ahead cost-optimal gas transport plan on the basis of shipper nominations and predicted gas demand in the public market

After optimization, plans are fed into the simulator for manual fine tuning

Dispatchers configure certain set points and ranges prior to optimization

Benefit I: the route planner as a tool to maintain security of supply

Feasible gas transport plan based on expected gas supply and demandRobust against re-nominations by shippers

and variations in demand in the public gas market

Now: pressure margins

Future: scenario based analysis

Benefit II: develop intuition for gas transport in a changing worldNew gas infrastructure and increased transit flow

fundamentally change the gas transport landscapeDispatchers are still working in a “pressure” world, not

a “flow” worldAgeing human assets (operators)

Develop awareness of the operational cost of gas

transport, by including the use of the route planner in the work procedures of dispatchers

Develop intuition and new rules-of-thumb by frequent use of the route planner

Train new operators

Benefit III: Energy management of electric compression

The advent of electric compression creates opportunities for trade-off between line pack in the gas network and imbalance of the electric grid through the spot market for power production ramp-up/ramp-down

Current trials with an integrated energy management system for fuel gas and electricity show promising results

Demonstration

Concluding remarks The route planner has been working "live" in

the Gasunie control room for 10 months without problems

Capable of finding optimal day-ahead plans in a highly complex gas transport network

Providing security to the operators that they will be able to deliver gas according to the needs of the market

Saving average operational cost by 1 – 3 % Powerful tool for developing insight in the

changing gas transport landscape Tool for integrated energy management of the

gas and electricity network

Thank you for your attention!

E-mail: [email protected]

We Change theWorld of Energy.