Jera Plans Hydrogen Co-Firing At US CCGT Power Unit

Japanese utility Jera plans to demonstrate the potential of hydrogen co-fired technology at existing combined-cycle gas-turbine (CCGT) units in New York's Cricket Valley Energy Center (CVEC), as it looks to start co-firing hydrogen at Japanese gas-fired power plants by the 2030s.

CVEC and US engineering firm GE today announced an initial deal to co-operate on a project to reduce carbon emissions at one of three CCGT units at CVEC using hydrogen co-fired technology. Jera, which has the largest share of CVEC with 38pc, will co-fire 5pc hydrogen with natural gas. The project is planned to begin in late 2022.

Jera operates three CCGT units with a combined capacity of 1.1GW at the CVEC power complex. The CCGT units started commercial operations in April last year.

The utility is accelerating its technology development and new business operations to cut emissions to achieve its goal to reduce 20pc of carbon dioxide from power plants by 2030 and achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. Jera has already announced that it will phase out its coal-fired units with inefficient technology, while it has started a study on [ammonia co-firing technology]( https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2217862) in a coal-fired power plant. Commercial use of hydrogen at its thermal power plants is also targeted for the 2030s.

Jera last month won a ¥50mn ($450,000) subsidy from Nedo to study carbon-free synthetic methane for future gas-fired power plant use. Its subsidiary Jera Americas is carrying out the research in the US because of the cheaper cost of renewable energy in the country.