"Hydrogen and the Energy Transition"

 Source:

https://www.powermag.com/hydrogen-and-the-energy-transition/

"Renewable energy, mainly in the form of wind and solar generation, is being added everywhere, while more traditional forms of power, such as coal-fired and nuclear generation, are being retired from the grid.

Meanwhile, natural gas-fired generation has taken the lead role in facilitating the transition by providing relatively quick ramping capability and stable baseload power to backup intermittent renewables.

... there is a lot of research and development work underway that could eventually push natural gas out of the mix.

... One of the potential supplements or replacements for natural gas could be hydrogen.

The concept of a hydrogen economy ... was first contemplated at least as far back as the 1970s, but the economics associated with producing hydrogen at the time made it impractical.

That is changing as countries around the world implement decarbonization goals and the share of renewable energy in the power mix increases.

Going forward, there are likely to be situations in which the supply of solar and wind power is high, but demand for the electricity is low.

Rather than curtailing production, the surplus energy could be used to produce “green hydrogen” through electrolysis.

" ... major gas turbine original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have jumped aboard the hydrogen bandwagon. Siemens, GE, and Mitsubishi Power all have programs underway to make their combustion turbines 100% hydrogen capable.

... “All the major OEMs have advanced-class gas turbines that are available and can blend up to 30% hydrogen.

... Joey Mashek, business development manager at Burns & McDonnell, said ... “The plan to develop those technologies to get near 100%, or 100%, is still about 10 years.”

"Mashek said there are two projects that are expected to be in commercial operation by 2025 that will blend 30% hydrogen with natural gas and combust it in advanced-class gas turbines.

However, when going above 30% hydrogen, controlling NOx becomes more difficult, requiring more sophisticated burners, fine tuning of the combustion process, a selective catalytic reduction system, or some combination of the solutions.'