100 renewable gas producers waiting to access distribution network

  • Lusa
  • 15 March 2023

Currently, the Distribution Network Development and Investment Plan (PDIRD) 2020 for the years 2021-2025 is still awaiting approval.

Gas distribution network operators in Portugal have more than 100 requests to connect renewable gas producers to the grid, the CEO of Sonorgás, Nuno Moreira, said in parliament on Tuesday.

“We have over 100 requests for connection to the grid of renewable gas producing centres,” said the head of Sonorgás, a natural gas distributor that supplies 34 municipalities in the northern interior of the country, referring to the requests made by operators in Portugal.

Nuno Moreira, the chief executive of Floene, Gabriel Sousa, and the director of REN Portgás, Nuno Mendes, were heard today in parliament in a hearing by the bureau and coordinators of the Environment and Energy Commission, where they asked for support from MPs in defining public policies “that allow for a fair [energy] transition”, namely with regard to investment plans, which are presented every five years.

Currently, the Distribution Network Development and Investment Plan (PDIRD) 2020 for the years 2021-2025 is still awaiting approval.

“At this moment, we have an issue on the table which is the need to have approved investment plans,” the Portgás representative stressed, explaining that without those instruments, it would be “difficult to operate”.

Gabriel Sousa highlighted the territorial cohesion aspect that those plans might have due to the capillarity of the network throughout the territory.

The heads of the gas distribution network operators insisted that the path towards decarbonisation should also involve the use of renewable gases, such as biomethane or hydrogen, and not rely solely on electrification.

“What we intend is to help decarbonise the economy, […] but not by going backwards, prohibiting customers’ access to networks that are already built,” said the head of REN Portgás, the public service natural gas distribution company.

Last week, Floene (formerly Galp Gás Natural Distribuição) officially marked the first injection of ‘green’ hydrogen into the gas distribution network in Portugal.