RWE and Kawasaki Heavy Industries – KHI started trial runs of a 34MW hydrogen-capable gas turbine in Germany at the Emsland gas-fired power plant, Lingen.
At an event attended by around 130 representatives of government and industry as well as the media, which included Olaf Lies, the Minister President of Lower Saxony, and Mitsuko Shino, the Japanese Ambassador to Germany, the new turbine was formally put into service.
Notably, it will also be the first time that hydrogen is used to produce electricity at this level in a European industrial environment.
Both companies are working together on testing the operation of the 34MW hydrogen-capable gas turbine in Germany with different combinations of natural gas and hydrogen that can include almost 100% hydrogen.
The testing phase is anticipated to last a few months and will collect data for various modes of operation and load scenarios that may be beneficial for future flexible power stations within energy systems with substantial inputs from wind and solar.
The hydrogen used in the experiments is generated on-site with GET H2 Nukleus electrolysers that separate water into hydrogen and oxygen utilizing renewable energy. In the tests, the hydrogen is subsequently utilized as fuel for the turbine.
According to Nikolaus Valerius, CEO of RWE Generation, “What we have achieved in Lingen in partnership with Kawasaki is unique in Europe. The new turbine will generate up to ten times as much power as previous hydrogen turbines. The operational experience gained will be key for the deployment of even larger turbines. This is an important milestone on the way towards ensuring that this technology can reliably supply hundreds of thousands of households with electricity in the future.”
Apparently, the combustion systems being tested in Lingen are to be operated safely and securely with every type of hydrogen and natural gas mixtures.
The technology has been trialed in smaller plants before, but the Lingen project is the first time it has been used at the 34 MW scale.
RWE just won tenders to construct three hydrogen-compatible gas-fired power stations located in North Rhine-Westphalia after an upcoming auction held by the Federal Network Agency of Germany under the Electricity Supply Security and Capacity Act.