NTPC and GE Gas Power sign for hydrogen co-firing in Gas turbines

NTPC Ltd. (India power generating utility) and GE Gas Power signed an MoU for the feasibility of demonstrating 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 this significant collaboration, the two companies will jointly explore the pathways to reduce CO2 emissions from the Kawas gas power plant and further implementation at scale across NTPC’s installed units in India.

NTPC’s Kawas gas power plant is powered by four GE 9E gas turbines operating in a combined-cycle mode and has an installed capacity of 645 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 must 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. After that, 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.

Ujjwal Kanti Bhattacharya, Director (Projects), NTPC Ltd., said, “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.”

Deepesh Nanda, CEO of GE Gas Power South Asia, said, “Hydrogen has a significant potential to play a complementary role along with other low-to-zero carbon fuels in generating electricity at scale.”