The Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IME) has urged the UK government to boost its investments in power-to-gas technology and in the national gas grid (changing piping and material) by 2023, to allow excess electricity, in the form of hydrogen, to be stored in the national gas grid. The IME estimates that the power-to-gas process has a higher potential in balancing the UK power grid compared to other forms of energy storage like batteries, as it can store excess renewable power for a longer time as hydrogen in the UK gas grid.
The IME highlights other benefits in using hydrogen across the energy system, such as producing low emissions fuel for the transportation sector, reducing carbon emissions in the heating sector and supplying greener feed-stock for the heavy industries sector. The power-to-gas process involves the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen and can be deployed during periods of high renewable power generation or low power demand.