Mitsubishi Power, a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) company, has successfully executed a fuel blend of 30% hydrogen and natural gas demonstration at partial load and full load using a grid-connected J-series air-cooled (JAC) gas turbine. The demonstration took place at the T-Point 2 combined cycle power plant validation facility with a rated output of 566 MW within Takasago Hydrogen Park. Using hydrogen produced at Takasago Hydrogen Park, this demonstration was the world’s first power generation test on a large-frame gas turbine using a fuel mixture of 30% hydrogen while connected to the local power grid and using hydrogen produced and stored on the same site.
The demonstration was conducted using results obtained through a project subsidized by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, using a Dry Low NOx combustor. The demonstration verified the achievement of the same low NOx emissions and stable combustion during hydrogen co-firing, and that switching fuels from natural gas to hydrogen fuel blending is possible during partial- and full-load operation.
Takasago Hydrogen Park entered full-scale operation in September 2023. The park is located at MHI’s Takasago Machinery Works in Hyogo Prefecture in west central Japan. Takasago Hydrogen Park is divided into sections according to three hydrogen-related functions: hydrogen production, storage, and utilization. In the production area, an alkaline electrolyzer has entered operation. It was manufactured by HydrogenPro AS of Norway with a hydrogen production capacity of 1100 Nm3/h, the highest in the world. The hydrogen produced will be stored in storage equipment with a total capacity of 39,000 Nm3.
The validation of hydrogen firing equipment will be done at the T-Point 2 combined cycle power plant validation facility located in the utilization area, using a Mitsubishi Power JAC large-frame gas turbine (450-MW class), as well as small- and mid-sized H-25 gas turbines (40-MW class) that had been previously installed for a compressor at the combustion test facility.
Mitsubishi Power is currently developing hydrogen production technologies, including solid oxide electrolysis cells, anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers, and next-generation turquoise-hydrogen production technology that produces hydrogen without emitting carbon dioxide (CO2) through the pyrolysis of methane into hydrogen and solid carbon. The company plans to conduct verification and validation in these areas sequentially.
MHI is pursuing the energy transition as an engine for corporate growth based on its declaration of “Mission Net Zero,” targeting carbon neutrality by 2040. Its initiatives fall into three core areas: the decarbonization of existing infrastructure, the realization of a hydrogen solutions ecosystem, and the achievement of a CO2 solutions ecosystem. Working to establish this “hydrogen solutions ecosystem,” Mitsubishi Power will leverage the Takasago Hydrogen Park to accelerate the development and actual equipment validation of hydrogen production and power generation technologies.
In 2024, Mitsubishi Power plans to conduct a 100% hydrogen-firing demonstration using an H-25 gas turbine. Additionally, Mitsubishi Power will proceed with the expansion of the hydrogen storage facility and perform a demonstration using a 50% hydrogen-blended fuel.
