Capstone Green Energy to supply hydrogen-powered microturbine to a remote project in Tasmania
The project will use the largest hydrogen electrolyser in Tasmania, and it would be the first hydrogen microgrid to be installed offshore.
Capstone Green Energy Corporation, a US HQ carbon reduction and green energy solutions provider, said today (12 May) to have received an order from Blue Economy CRC for a microturbine intended to run on hydrogen.
Blue Economy CRC is a research centre aiming to bring together sustainable seafood production and renewable energy to develop Australia’s aquaculture industry further. The microturbine will be used in an offshore DC-power based microgrid to support offshore research and aquaculture for food production in Tasmania, Australia.
The microgrid will manage the power produced from offshore and renewable resources (solar, wind, and waves) used to make hydrogen through a 700 kW ITM electrolyser. The hydrogen will then be integrated into the microturbine, which will provide power on demand.
The project will showcase the environmental benefits and application of green hydrogen as energy storage and fuel for power generation. The microturbine is also ideal for operating at partial loads while matching its output to the demands of the rest of the microgrid system.
The aim of the pilot project is to provide proof of concept for a DC microgrid combined with multiple renewable sources, which would be commercialised for supporting remote offshore operation in the next stage.
Darren Jamison, CEO of Capstone Green Energy, said, “This is truly an exciting demonstration project to be part of and an important technical building block as we continue to move towards a commercial 100% hydrogen CHP and microgrid product.”
Capstone Green Energy has also recently released its first commercially available hydrogen-based Combined Heat and Power (CHP) product, which can safely run on a 10% hydrogen and 90% natural gas mix. The company aims to expand the mix to 30% hydrogen and 70% natural gas mix product by March next year. The company is also conducting an R&D partnership with Argonne National Laboratory for testing a 70% hydrogen and 30% natural gas configuration with the aim to run on 100% hydrogen.
