The European Gas Research Group (GERG) has kick-started a first-of-its-kind research project to test the most promising site-level technologies to quantify methane emissions in midstream assets, thereby reaffirming the crucial role of gas infrastructures in the energy transition.
The project is coordinated by the Spanish Transmission System Operator Enagás and supported by Bureau Veritas, as field coordinator, with the participation of other 13 European Gas Infrastructure Operators and Gas Associations: Danish Gas Center, Gassco, Gasunie, GERG, GRTgaz, Medgaz, National Grid, Open Grid Europe, Snam, Storengy, Sedigas, Synergrid and Uniper.
This initiative is in line with the objective of the European Commission to develop legislation before the end of 2021 to improve quantification and reduce methane emissions in the energy sector.
Moreover, this initiative will help European energy companies’ strategy to obtain the OGMP 2.0 gold standard, a voluntary initiative coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This work will demonstrate the efforts that the midstream gas sector is making to improve the quantification of their methane emissions, with a view to bringing them down based on the knowledge acquired during this exercise.
The energy sector considers the minimization of methane emissions as an opportunity to actively contribute to the short-term mitigation of climate change, accelerate environmental commitments and further enhance the environmental value of natural gas and gas infrastructures. Gas operators remain more than ever committed to delivering the EU Green Deals’ objective. This is a strategic project to ensure that methane emissions are adequately quantified and thus will be useful to guarantee that further methane reductions are achieved.
