India’s power landscape is strengthened by the emerging technologies, says Nanda
GE Gas Power has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for feasibility to demonstrate hydrogen (H2) co-firing blended with natural gas in GE’s 9E gas turbines installed at NTPC’s Kawas combined-cycle gas power plant in Gujarat.
Under an MoU, signed on 6 Oct 2022, GE Gas and NTPC Ltd will jointly explore the pathways to reduce CO2 emissions from the Kawas gas power plant. The two companies will further this collaboration for implementing across NTPC’s installed units in India.
NTPC’s Kawas gas plant is powered by four GE 9E gas turbines operating in a combined-cycle mode and has an installed capacity of 645 megawatts (MW).
Further, GE’s advanced E- Class gas turbine portfolio currently can burn up to 100% by volume of hydrogen when blended with natural gas.
This capability varies depending on the type of combustion system used.
For fuels with over 5% hydrogen by volume, gas turbine accessories need to be evaluated and possibly modified to reliably deliver the fuel to the combustors.
In this first-of-its-kind MoU with NTPC in India, GE Gas Power will evaluate the possible modifications in the gas turbine unit and auxiliaries required for blending H2 with natural gas.
Thereafter, a pilot project for 5% co-firing of hydrogen may be implemented at the Kawas gas power plant in a safe environment based on the feasibility report. NTPC shall provide H2 required for the project.
“NTPC, with a large fleet of power generation facilities delivering more than 70 GW across India, has been at the forefront when it comes to piloting new hydrogen-related initiatives. NTPC is committed to playing a key role in India’s energy transition journey as the country marches ahead to achieve the net-zero target and climate goals,” said Ujjwal Kanti Bhattacharya, Director (Projects), NTPC Ltd.
“In parallel, it is crucial to invest and effectively utilize the proven technology that can generate electricity, which is affordable, accessible and reliable.
“This MoU is among the steps we are taking in the direction to meet the National Hydrogen Mission’s objectives.
“As our collaboration with GE grows deeper, we are more focused to use advanced technology and leverage our gas power assets with a higher percentage of zero-carbon fuels such as H2, as the availability of the fuel becomes viable,” said Bhattacharya.
“India’s power landscape is strengthened by the emerging technologies that are at various stages of development and industrial competitiveness. Hydrogen has a significant potential to play a complementary role along with other low-to-zero carbon fuels in generating electricity at scale,” said Deepesh Nanda, CEO, GE Gas Power South Asia.
“We applaud NTPC’s leadership, commitment, and investment in hydrogen that can further set new industry benchmarks in terms of discovering low-cost hydrogen industry going forward and achieving energy self-reliance.” fiinews.com
