SSE and Siemens Energy have launched the “Mission H2 Power” collaboration, dedicated to delivering gas turbine technology capable of running on 100% hydrogen.
The project is expected to support the decarbonisation of SSE’s Keadby 2 Power Station in North Lincolnshire, which is powered by Siemens Energy’s SGT5-9000HL gas turbine.
The “multi-million-pound co-investment” will see Siemens Energy develop a combustion system for the turbine that can run on 100% hydrogen while maintaining the flexibility to operate with natural gas and any blend of the two.
The collaboration will also see additional facilities constructed at Siemens Energy’s Clean Energy Centre in Berlin to enable testing of the technology for large gas turbines to take place.
“Our HL-class gas turbine has set records for efficiency and power performance,” explained Darren Davidson, Vice-President of Siemens Energy UK&I. “This new collaboration is a significant step in reaching the point where large gas turbines can run on 100% hydrogen.”
Analysis from the National Energy System Operator indicates that approximately 7GW of low-carbon flexible power will be needed by 2035 in the UK, with hydrogen-fired power stations anticipated to supply roughly half of the capacity.
Finlay McCutcheon, Managing Director of SSE Thermal, said, “We know hydrogen-fired power stations will be an essential element of the energy mix in a Net Zero world and Mission H2 Power will help us accelerate their deployment through engineering excellence.
“Our projects will be pivotal in providing flexible backup to renewables, and while we still need to see a rapid acceleration in policy and deployment, the need for this technology is beyond question – it is a matter of when not if and this partnership can help us reach that destination as soon as possible.”
UK to adapt legislation and market models to boost hydrogen power plants
The UK Government has committed today (December 9) to deliver a support mechanism for hydrogen’s use in power generation and an associated business model to spur private investment.
Aimed at de-risking hydrogen-to-power (H2P) investments and support deployments, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said it will introduce a business model based on a dispatchable power agreement (DPA) framework.
Already used for carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) in the power sector, the DPA is designed to incentivise private finance for projects. The government intends to adapt the mechanism to suit the needs of H2P.
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