GRDF chief: France is on track to exceed its biomethane goals

Renewable gases are gaining ground in Europe, with France on track to exceed its 2023 intermediate objectives for biomethane injection into the grid. To catch up with the industry, EURACTIV France spoke to Laurence Poirier-Dietz, director general of GRDF, Europe's largest gas distributor. 

On 21 October, France presented its new "Green France Nation" plan to double the reduction of carbon emissions over the next five years (2022-2027).

But "for this to happen, it is necessary to have a balanced energy mix" combining gas and electricity, Laurence Poirier-Dietz told EURACTIV France.

With the winter heating season coming, gas consumption is set to exceed electricity consumption – by "around 120-140 GW of gas versus 85-95 GW of electricity," she says.

And those winter heating peaks are expected to remain in the coming years, she points out, saying this calls for a decarbonisation of gas supply.

The European Union aims to achieve 100% renewable gas in the grid by 2050, with a 20% intermediary target by 2030. France, meanwhile, is charging ahead with its own objective of injecting 6 TWh of biomethane into the grid in 2023.

Over the past two quarters, the industry injected over 1.5 TWh of biomethane in the gas grid, putting France on track to exceed its 2023 objective.

For Laurence Poirier-Dietz, this means the French objective could be more ambitious. "With 500 biogas plants injecting directly into the gas network, we have a real head start," she said.

"In France, the production of green gas already represents more than the power of a nuclear reactor and we will be able to make up for Russian gas imports by 2027-2028," she predicts.

"And maybe one day we will even be able to export from decentralised production," she adds.

On the EU side, however, the objectives could not be more ambitious, she argued, saying the bloc's largest energy consumers – Italy, Spain, and Germany – are lagging behind in building new anaerobic digestors.

Methane leaks

Meanwhile, the EU gas industry is questioning the European Commission's proposed regulation on reducing methane emissions from the sector, decrying what they describe as "one-size-fits-all" measures.

"The Commission is proposing single criteria for the entire chain, from producer to distributor," said Laurence Poirier-Dietz.

For example, Brussels wants to impose regular checks for leaks in the entire gas network – once every three months – although "some areas do not require such regular checks".

"Systematising the checks will only increase the costs passed on in the sale prices, without increasing the level of safety or effectively reducing emissions," she warned.

According to her, European measures must be adapted to the different infrastructures, with gas distributors like GRDF calling for more flexibility in the EU's approach.

Asked why the European Commission has not adopted a more flexible approach to methane checks, Poirier-Dietz replied: "Because the Commission wants to impose a strict vision."

"In reality, Brussels has little knowledge of the gas network operating system, which is very technical, and even less of the distribution part, which is local," Poirier-Dietz said.

"We are the last link in the chain, the furthest from Brussels," she explained.

Going local

According to Poirier-Dietz, local energy production is the way forward in the energy transition.

It "will be more bottom-up, with backflow systems that will allow locally produced green gas to transit from distribution to transport, which will then send it to another demand area, or storage", she said, describing a system already in place in several areas in France.

Poirier-Dietz even hopes that France will one day even be able to export from decentralised production – an option that the Commission is already considering in its legislative package on gas.

For this to happen, local elected officials must however agree to the installation of production infrastructures on their territory, which has not always proved an easy task in France, with some villagers opposing the construction of new giant anaerobic digestors.

The GRDF director pointed to the benefits of biomethane for the local economy, with more than 50,000 jobs expected in 2030 for the biogas sector, up from about 6,000 today.

Besides biomethane, local authorities in France could also benefit from hydrogen production and distribution, Poirier-Dietz said, noting that "98% of the pipelines in the gas distribution network are ready for hydrogen".

"We will probably also need purely hydrogen pipelines for industrial services," she said.

Another avenue is also being studied: the injection of synthetic methane produced by recombining hydrogen and CO2, via the methanation process.

"Hydrogen thus offers a complementary decarbonisation potential while optimising the energy system," Poirier-Dietz said.

[Edited by Frédéric Simon]