Hydrogen production plant

GE continues to collaborate with Uniper to lower the carbon footprint of its power generation operations in Europe. Its hydrogen plant readiness assessment represents the next step in Uniper’s Grain gas-fired power plant’s decarbonisation roadmap. Grain power station in Kent, England is the newest combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power station in Uniper’s UK portfolio. The project will explore solutions to enable operations using blends of natural gas and hydrogen, with hydrogen accounting for up to 40% by volume. The target is the decarbonisation of Grain’s 1,365 MW gas-fired power plant in the next decade.

“Investigating lower carbon options for gas turbines could help the power generation industry reduce its carbon emissions over the next decade and blending hydrogen with natural gas to lower carbon emissions is one of the options we’re exploring. Uniper set the strategic goal of carbon-neutrality in its European generation by 2035, and this project marks a tangible step toward the decarbonisation of our gas assets,” said Ian Rogers, Uniper Head of Asset Improvement and Making Net Zero Possible project. “The assessment will provide us with the scope of the upgrade needed to support operation of up to 40% hydrogen by volume, while maintaining both plant economics and reliability.”

This project will define the plant equipment modifications necessary for the existing GT26 gas turbines to accommodate hydrogen fuel blends of significant volumes. Multiple engineering and consulting teams located across GE’s sites worldwide will support the assessment in a cross-functional effort. Hydrogen use forms part of the hybrid decarbonisation strategy being developed for the site.