Coupling electricity and gas distribution networks: applications and further steps in the concept development

Electricity and gas networks have been traditionally connected at the transmission level through the generation of electrical power by means of large natural gas power plants. Due to the current energy transition and in view of the huge storage capacity of the gas grid, the connection of these networks has to be transformed into a coupling that allows an efficient integration of the renewable energy sources essentially at the distribution level. The purpose of this article is to summarize the applications of the coupling between electricity and gas distribution networks and to give an outlook of the challenges and next steps in the development of the coupling concept.