Intermountain Power Agency orders MHPS JAC Gas Turbine technology for renewable-hydrogen energy hub, operated by LA DWP
11 March 2020
The Intermountain Power Agency (IPA) has awarded Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) a contract for two M501JAC power trains for the Intermountain Power Plant (IPP) in Delta, Utah. (Earlier post.)
This award marks the first Advanced Class Gas Turbines in the industry specifically designed and purchased as part of a comprehensive plan to sequentially transition from coal, to natural gas and finally to renewable hydrogen fuel, and creates a roadmap for the global industry to follow.
This transition will start in 2025, when the turbines will be commercially guaranteed capable of using a mix of 30% hydrogen and 70% natural gas fuel. This fuel mixture will reduce carbon emissions by more than 75% compared to the retiring coal-fired technology. Between 2025 and 2045, the hydrogen capability will be systematically increased to 100% renewable hydrogen, enabling carbon-free utility-scale power generation.
The renewed generation facility will be owned by IPA and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). It will provide 840 MW of reliable energy to the IPA purchasers it serves, including Los Angeles and municipalities in other parts of California and Utah. The power plant is connected to the Los Angeles power grid by an existing high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission line.
IPA’s order includes two 1-on-1 M501JAC power trains with gas turbines, steam turbines, heat recovery steam generators, and auxiliary equipment. The JAC features an enhanced air-cooled combustor and advanced thermal barrier coating on the turbine blades. MHPS will service the plant under a 20-year long-term service agreement.
MHPS’s installed fleet of J-Series gas turbines has accumulated almost 1 million hours of operating experience. IPA will receive MHPS’s newest generation JAC air-cooled dry low-NOx combustion system with hydrogen-rich fuel capability. MHPS gas turbines have more than 3.5 million hours of high-hydrogen operating experience, accumulated over 40 years and across 29 facilities.
The selection of the new M501JAC power trains expands the MHPS footprint in Millard County, Utah. In May of 2019, MHPS partnered with Magnum Development to announce plans to develop the Advanced Clean Energy Storage (ACES) project adjacent to IPP.
The ACES project will use renewable power to produce hydrogen through electrolysis. The hydrogen will be stored in an underground salt dome at the site, using technology that has been in operation for the past 30 years to supply hydrogen to US refineries in the Gulf Coast of the United States. Stored renewable hydrogen can provide power when wind and solar availability are limited due to prevailing weather conditions and time of day, as well as provide seasonal energy storage from renewable energy sources.
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) is a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and Hitachi, Ltd. integrating their operations in power generation systems.
This not make much sense (or cents). Why not just put the "renewable" power onto the grid and run the turbine on natural gas when there is not enough "renewable" power available. This would save the power that goes into the inefficiencies of electrolysis and the compression and storage of the hydrogen plus the associated costs of the equipment. I know someone will pring up the point that this is "excess renewable" power that would otherwise be wasted but I do not think that we will ever reach that point over a reasonable sized area and even if we do, it would make more sense to use pumped storage hydro.
Looking on the bright side, at least they are get rid of burning coal.
Posted by: sd | 11 March 2020 at 06:58 AM
sd,
Above a not-that-high percentage of renewable energy (RE) on average, you start getting more than can be absorbed by the grid.
As a business case, I doubt it makes sense. As a bridge to the future without fossil fuels - a bridge that takes a long time to build - it is good starting point.
This is a grid balancing model that is expected to be used in many places, so getting a reference is vital for all parties involved.
Posted by: Thomas Pedersen | 11 March 2020 at 08:42 AM
They're looking to have peak "renewable" generation well in excess of immediate demand, with the excess going to electrolysis for hydrogen. This is at least theoretically feasible, though it has a round-trip efficiency well under 50% and costs so high nobody will mention them.
This press release has a conspicuous absence: no mention of a battery. This means that either the electrolyzers are expected to be a sufficient buffer to allow the gas turbines to be started in time to handle losses of wind and PV output, or other plants are going to handle that.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 11 March 2020 at 08:52 AM
There is renewable energy that is not put on the grid every day.
The plant can use renewable methane, the waste heat can power SOECs
using renewable wind and solar energy. Put the whole facility near empty NG wells to store CO2 and some and H2 in others.
Posted by: SJC_1 | 11 March 2020 at 01:09 PM