Energy Oil & Gas Magazine EOG 214 | Page 23

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Hydrogen decarbonize energy in its broadest sense . The strategy also predicts that the demand for power that electrification will bring will rise by up to 60 percent , as energy production moves away from fossil fuels and towards renewables . The challenges arising from this increase have to be considered , including how quickly capacity can be brought online to meet the new demands . Grid constraint is currently an issue , where too much energy is being produced for the electricity grid to manage , resulting in switching off wind to cease generating energy . In 2020 , when consumer demand fell as a result of the coronavirus lockdown , National Grid spent an unprecedented
£ 826 million balancing the grid , primarily in the form of payments to wind farm producers to cease generation .
Therefore , the energy industry and policymakers need to start asking questions about the practicalities of decommissioning gas networks or upgrading electricity infrastructure to support any proposed changes . Whichever route is taken to decarbonizing current gas demand , it will need to replace the 738TW of energy that natural gas produces on an annual basis and one thing is certain ; there isn ’ t a onestop fuel solution for reaching net zero .
So , what role does gas have to play in supporting emerging low-carbon energy ?
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