Georgia Power, Mitsubishi Power, EPRI Complete World's Largest Hydrogen Fuel Blending at Plant McDonough-Atkinson

Georgia Power and Mitsubishi Power, alongside the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), this month successfully validated fuel blending of hydrogen and natural gas at both partial and full load on an M501G natural gas turbine at Georgia Power’s Plant McDonough-Atkinson in Smyrna, Georgia. The demonstration project was the first to validate 20%* hydrogen fuel blending on an advanced class gas turbine in North America, and the largest test of this kind to date, with the 20% blend providing an approximately 7% reduction in carbon emissions compared to natural gas.

Georgia Power, the largest electric subsidiary of Southern Company, collaborated with Mitsubishi Power for the landmark testing as part of a continued commitment to new research and development (R&D) to build the energy grid of the future and to reduce carbon emissions across its generation fleet, with Georgia Power having already reduced its carbon emissions by more than 60% since 2007. 

The Plant McDonough-Atkinson facility, located less than 10 miles from downtown Atlanta, has served electric customers for more than 80 years and was fully converted to natural gas in 2012 and expanded to power up to 1.7 million homes. It currently operates six state-of-the-art, large-capacity M501G series gas turbines, which deliver high performance and high efficiency, as well as three steam turbines running in three blocks of 2-on-1 combined-cycle configuration.

Mitsubishi Power completed the hydrogen blending on one M501G gas turbine unit with an approximate output of 265 MW by utilizing some results of a project commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Japan’s national research and development agency.

Mitsubishi Power provided full turnkey service for this project including engineering, planning, hydrogen blending hardware, controls, commissioning and risk management. Mitsubishi Power partnered with Certarus to source and manage the hydrogen supply.

“This monumental hydrogen demonstration project at Plant McDonough-Atkinson is another example of how, at Georgia Power and Southern Company, we are building the future of energy, today. This demonstration helps pave the way for long-term clean and carbon-free use for already existing infrastructure. Making these smart investments today on behalf of our customers ensures we can continue to provide clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy as Georgia grows and thrives for decades to come,” said Allen Reaves, Senior Vice President and Senior Production Officer, Georgia Power. “This kind of research and development not only delivers long-term value for our customers, but also helps drive the entire energy industry forward toward a cleaner, carbon-free future. We’re proud to be playing an important role in that and excited about what we’ve been able to accomplish with our partner, Mitsubishi Power Americas.”

Mark Bissonnette, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Power Generation, Mitsubishi Power Americas, said, “Mitsubishi Power is dedicated to our mission of providing power generation and storage solutions to our customers, empowering them to affordably and reliably combat climate change and advance human prosperity. The hydrogen blending demonstration project at Plant McDonough-Atkinson brings us closer to reaching net-zero goals across the industry.

Southern Company’s industry-leading R&D organization served as technical consultant on the project. The team is engaged domestically and internationally in research focused on low-carbon hydrogen power generation, production, delivery, transportation, infrastructure and energy storage.

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), an independent, non-profit energy research and development organization, supported the development of the project.

Neva Espinoza, EPRI Vice President of Energy Supply and Low-Carbon Resources, said, "Accelerating low-carbon technology development is essential to achieve net-zero targets by mid-century. This successful hydrogen demonstration test reinforces the significant, game-changing role that this and other low-carbon technologies can play to help reach economy-wide decarbonization. EPRI’s future-focused collaboration with Georgia Power and Mitsubishi Power Americas is helping bring net-zero goals within reach.”

Video of the project for media use is available here

Note

* The ratio of hydrogen content indicates volume ratio.