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A recent breakthrough test of hydrogen in an advanced class gas turbine reveals that forging the frontier of the energy transition requires collaboration at a whole new level.

Green hydrogen has long been expected to play a substantial role in the transition to a net zero carbon future. But much of today’s power generation fleet is built to run on natural gas, which means a shift to 100% hydrogen-powered electricity would require equipment that hasn’t been installed yet – from the turbines capable of running on hydrogen alone to the infrastructure that would deliver the volume of green hydrogen needed.

The goal of demonstrating a 20% hydrogen fuel mix sprang from the belief that running today’s natural gas turbines on a mix of natural gas and hydrogen – the latter produced through increasingly renewable methods – could reduce emissions while easing power producers’ concerns about having to fully replace their infrastructure to meet sustainability goals.

The industry needed proof. “We tested 20% hydrogen successfully in laboratory conditions,” says Ben Thomas, product line manager for hydrogen at Mitsubishi Power. “But before we could allow a customer to use it, we needed to validate it under real-world conditions.”

Learn more about the test at Plant McDonough in this detailed write-up.

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