Balancing the Energy System: Simulating a Multi-Commodity Approach to Enhance Biomethane Injection Capacity in Gas Networks

Biomethane is emerging as a key renewable gas in both mature and developing energy systems worldwide. Driven by climate-neutrality objectives, energy-security concerns, and rising waste-to-energy ambitions, global biomethane production is expected to expand rapidly in the coming decade. In Europe, this growth is accelerated by the REPowerEU target of 35 billion m3 by 2030. However, as biomethane production increases and natural gas demand declines over time, distribution networks face growing operational challenges, including pressure build-up and biomethane curtailment caused by supply and demand mismatches. This study evaluates whether surplus biomethane can be converted into electricity as a multi-commodity strategy to alleviate these constraints. Using hourly operational data from two Dutch Distribution System Operators (DSOs), a simulation model was developed to assess the impact of generator-based biomethane-to-power conversion on both gas and electricity distribution networks. The results show that, for RENDO, the approach increases effective biomethane injection by 49.0%, reduces natural gas deliveries from the transmission system by 20.0%, and lowers electricity imports by 9.2%. For Coteq, the corresponding impacts are 106.8%, 30.6%, and 16.2%, respectively. These findings indicate that multi-commodity coupling through biomethane-to-power conversion provides a promising strategy for increasing biomethane injection and renewable electricity generation.