- What obstacles does the city see to considering the topic of hydrogen in the energy master plan or the
gas grid transformation?
a. Is the City of Karlsruhe aware that it can be connected to the hydrogen core network
?
b. Why is the city planning to give up existing gas infrastructure and high property values
and write them off? - Will the city of Karlsruhe report hydrogen grid expansion areas on time?
- How is the energy transition to be achieved by 2040 without the component of switching to hydrogen
if thousands of oil and gas heating systems have to be converted to district heating and heat pumps
by then, or property has to be renovated? - How are cases dealt with that do not allow a connection to district heating or efficient operation
of heat pumps for structural reasons but are connected to the gas grid?
a. How are affected owners approached and what solutions
are proposed?
b. How will owners who are unable to obtain
bank loans for upgrading/converting their property due to their age be dealt with?
Explanation
After reviewing the draft energy master plan
with integrated heat planning (ELP) of the City of Karlsruhe, which has not yet been adopted by the municipal council, it emerges that the topic of hydrogen
is to play virtually no role in the heat supply of the City of Karlsruhe. With the exception of
isolated, so-called “anchor customers”, hydrogen is not intended in particular for the heat supply
of individual residential customers. As a result, no hydrogen network expansion areas are designated
and the ELP lacks an open approach to technology.
This is more than surprising in view of the participation of Stadtwerke Karlsruhe (SWK) in the H2VorOrt initiative organized by DVGW
. The initiative’s website1
1 H2vorOrt, https://www.h2vorort.de/wer-wir-sind
states that SWK is itself one of 48 partners working on the development of a
gas grid transformation plan, but this is not mentioned in the ELP.
The Federal Network Agency lists the
registered requirements of both MiRO and the Karlsruhe gas-fired power plant2 under registered projects for the planned hydrogen core grid. In the words of the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, the
hydrogen core network represents the
network for the ramp-up, “the highway” for further connections. If even this important main
connection in Karlsruhe is already being planned for 2032, why is the option of
connections to the hydrogen grid not made transparent in the energy master plan?
A KIT newsletter also reveals3 that SWK, in collaboration with partners
from the scientific community and the energy supply sector, is investigating the technical feasibility and cost of converting the distribution grid or
grid sections to hydrogen as part of a research project
“Transformation process for the integration of hydrogen at distribution grid level (TrafoHyVe)” at
. These projects appear to contradict the
results of the City of Karlsruhe’s ELP, which was drawn up in collaboration with SWK. From the point of view of the FW|FÜR Karlsruhe city council groups, there is at least
a need for explanation as to why hydrogen should not play a major role in the
heat supply of the city of Karlsruhe.
In response to a question from FW|FÜR Karlsruhe to Dr. Frank Graf, Head of Gas Technology DVGW-
Research center at the Engler-Bunte-Institute of the KIT, Karlsruhe and partner in the research project
TrafoHyVe on the research content confirms this:
“As the DVGW has published several times through its Chairman of the Board Prof. Dr. Gerald Linke and in various
publications with reference to the National Hydrogen Strategy, there is great climate-neutral
energy potential in
production and distribution in a diversified hydrogen supply, which is not limited to primarily connected industrial applications.
In addition to other energy sources (such as electricity), hydrogen can contribute to security of supply, particularly in the event of extreme
load requirements such as those that occur on cold winter days. As
Karlsruhe will be one of the first cities in Baden-Württemberg to be connected to the hydrogen transportation network
, hydrogen should also be considered as an option for the municipal energy supply
. Without wishing to anticipate the results of the TrafoHyVe project, it can be confirmed for
the existing Karlsruhe natural gas distribution network that the adjustments to the gas network required for the transformation to
hydrogen will be moderate according to the current state of knowledge”
Signed
Jürgen Wenzel, Friedemann Kalmbach, Petra Lorenz
2 Annex 1 to the hydrogen core network
3 KIT Newsletter, https://www.sts.kit.edu/downloads/lookkit-202204.pdf.
