GE Vernova has unveiled a 100% hydrogen-ready aeroderivative gasoline turbine answer primarily based on its LM6000VELOX bundle. The primary-of-a-kind expertise might be showcased on the 200-MW Whyalla hydrogen energy plant in South Australia, with commissioning slated for early 2026. “It is projected to mark the first time a GE Vernova power plant project, at a commercial scale, is powered by aeroderivative gas turbine combustion technology capable of operating on 100% hydrogen,” GE Vernova famous.
The American expertise large stated on Nov. 19, throughout COP29 in Azerbaijan, that it secured a take care of ATCO Australia and BOC, a Linde subsidiary, to put in 4 LM6000VELOX items on the Whyalla complicated in South Australia’s Higher Spencer Gulf.
The 200-MW peaking energy station is an element of a bigger hydrogen mission that may embody a 250-MW electrolyzer and a 100-ton hydrogen facility. “When completed, the Whyalla hydrogen facility will utilize South Australia’s surplus renewable energy, generated by large-scale wind and solar farms, to produce renewable hydrogen that will be stored and used to power the four LM6000VELOX units,” the corporate stated.
A Main New Answer for a Gasoline Turbine Big
The launch of a 100% hydrogen-ready aeroderivative gasoline turbine line marks one of many first main product unveilings for GE Vernova because the firm’s spin-off from GE in April 2024. As POWER has reportedthe enterprise evolution sought to determine an enormous purpose-built agency that intends to leverage its expertise and options to empower electrification and decarbonization.
Whereas GE Vernova’s Gasoline Energy enterprise, a cornerstone of its Energy division, has retained the company’s gas turbine legacythe corporate has invested closely in analysis and improvement (R&D) to “future-proof” its international put in base of seven,000 gasoline generators. To date, that has included a collection of notable hydrogen combustion “firsts” for its HA-classwhich already has the aptitude to burn as much as 50% hydrogen by quantity when blended with pure gasoline. The corporate is now working to realize a 100% hydrogen burn functionality within the heavy-duty platform by 2030.
In tandem, the corporate is working to outfit its F-class fleet with 100% hydrogen capabilities. Earlier this year, it marked its first deployment of a hydrogen-capable dual-fuel 9F gasoline turbine. The corporate has additionally got down to exhibit hydrogen combustion’s system peaking capabilities. A completely useful mission at Duke Vitality’s DeBary energy plant in Florida is slated to demonstrate an integrated 100% hydrogen power-to-power system for business peaking, leveraging one among DeBary’s 4 83-MW GE 7E gasoline generators.
In the meantime, GE Vernova has launched progressive packages for its aeroderivative fleet—which includes three models: the LM6000, LM2500, and TM2500. Final yr, the company launched the 57-MW LM6000VELOX packagemodeled after the success of the 2020-introduced LM2500XPRESS energy plant. On the core of the LM6000VELOX bundle is the LM6000, a 44.7-MW to 56-MW aeroderivative gasoline turbine commercially introduced in 1988which derives from GE’s CF6-80C2 high bypass turbofan aircraft engine. Greater than 1,200 LM6000 gasoline generators have since been put in throughout 60 international locations, GE Vernova has famous.
Launch of the 100% hydrogen-fueled LM6000VELOX bundle on Tuesday marks a brand new pathway for the gasoline turbine line, and it follows years of funding in analysis and improvement (R&D) to advance its combustion methods to burn larger blends of hydrogen, stated Eric Grey, CEO of GE Vernova’s Gasoline Energy enterprise. “We are proud to unveil our first 100% hydrogen-ready aeroderivative gas turbine solution to support our customers’ decarbonization goals while maintaining grid reliability, which requires the deploying of renewable and conventional power technology in tandem,” he famous.
A Internet-Zero Gasoline Turbine Package deal
As GE Vernova has advised POWERthe marketplace for aeroderivative gasoline generators is increasing in energy technology and energy-intensive industries, significantly in North America and Europe, the place established energy infrastructures, strict emissions rules, and a rising share of renewables are driving demand. Globally, aeroderivatives are additionally gaining traction to help vitality transitions, together with shifts from coal and diesel to gasoline, largely as a result of their skill to supply peaking energy, reserve capability, and fast deployment.
In line with Midhat Mirabi, managing director of Aeroderivatives New Models at GE Vernova, the corporate launched into its path to develop a 100% hydrogen answer for its aeroderivatives after demonstrating combustion of 5% to 44% hydrogen (in a mix with pure gasoline) on a LM6000 SAC gasoline turbine at New York Energy Authority’s 45-MW Brentwood Small Clear Energy Plant in Lengthy Island in 2022.
“As part of the development effort, GE Vernova has conducted rigorous component-level combustion testing for new designs at the Advanced Research Center (ARC) in Niskayuna, New York,” he advised POWER. “During these tests, GE Vernova has been able to successfully demonstrate that the LM6000 PC combustor is able to burn up to 100% hydrogen with water injection. As the next step, a full-scale engine test is planned in Greenville to validate the product further.”
Mirabi stated the R&D has led to a “reimagination” of the LM6000 PC’s combustion system. Modifications, for instance, embody developments to its gasoline nozzle and materials upgrades to key elements, ncluding gasoline system piping and valves. “The new design represents a leap forward in innovation, overcoming the challenges of hydrogen’s higher flame speed through precise design enhancements to the fuel nozzle, optimized water injection schedules, and advanced control modifications,” he famous. “Equipped with robust safety features, including nitrogen purge systems and hydrogen fire detection systems, it sets a new benchmark for reliability and safety. This is engineering excellence redefined,” he stated.
Working an aeroderivative turbine totally on hydrogen may have repercussions, Mirabi acknowledged. “While hydrogen combustion is not expected to change the engine output or efficiency significantly, minor changes to operation such as start/stop capability on natural gas can be expected,” he stated. As well as, “some impact to the maintenance and turbine components are expected due to increased water injection and hydrogen properties.” Nevertheless, “That said, each site can be specific, and we recommend power plant operators have a discussion with their GE Vernova representative for additional detail,” he pressured.
For now, GE Vernova is ready for a fast rollout of the first-of-a-kind answer to make sure the 4 LM6000VELOX items are commissioned as anticipated by early 2026. After set up and commissioning, the corporate plans to conduct some “additional component-level testing, engineering design reviews for the gas turbine generator solution, and further system testing in our H2 facility in Greenville,” I might be stunned.
Decarbonized Agency Energy for South Australia
When operational, the 200-MW Whyalla hydrogen plant is anticipated to supply important firming providers to South Australia, a state that’s grappling with a fast transformation to wash vitality. For the reason that state’s final coal station shut down in 2016, it has increasingly relied on wind, photo voltaic, storage, and distributed vitality sources. Right now these sources make up a mixed 75% of its generated energy, with the rest coming from gasoline energy and a comparatively small quantity from diesel. By 2026, that share may attain 85%, consistent with the state’s goal to realize 100% web renewable vitality by 2027.
Nevertheless, specialists posit that whereas the state is already able to working its grid on 100% renewables, it can nonetheless must depend on units—like gasoline generators and synchronous condensers—to take care of grid stability. Reliability and adaptability, notably, have been a selected focus because the 2016 statewide blackout.
Because the state notesextended durations of wind or photo voltaic “droughts” in addition to transmission community outages have necessitated a “long-duration firm capacity fleet” that’s able to “at least 8 hours of continuous rated output and can quickly ramp up and sustain high output. As just one example, on May 13, “low-wind conditions led to an increase in gas generation from 71 MW to 1,174MW over three hours between 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. as solar output reduced,” it stated.
“South Australia is at the forefront of the global shift to clean energy, and our investment in 100% hydrogen-capable technology at Whyalla sets a new standard for what’s possible,” stated South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas in an announcement despatched to POWER on Tuesday. “By integrating this world-first technology, we are not only supporting our state’s energy security but also creating a blueprint for sustainable, hydrogen-fuelled power that the rest of the world can follow.”
To organize for the mission, the state authorities has dedicated about A$593 million, with the Commonwealth and State Governments contributing A$100 million to the so-called “Hydrogen Jobs Plan Power Plant Project.” The funding will cowl each the Whyalla renewable hydrogen energy plant facility and the the Port Bonython Hydrogen Hubwhich is positioned close to Stony Level. “The plan centers on the large-scale delivery of green hydrogen production facilities, green hydrogen-fueled power generation, and associated hydrogen storage to stimulate industry investment in hydrogen and create a globally competitive clean energy industry,” Mirabi defined.
For the South Australian authorities, different advantages—past enhanced grid safety and new dispatchable technology—might be to create vital employment alternatives whereas demonstrating the viability of large-scale hydrogen manufacturing and technology applied sciences.
—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).
