Doosan Enerbility aims to demonstrate 100MW hydrogen combustion turbine

[Courtesy of Doosan Enerbility Co.]

Doosan Enerbility Co. aims to pioneer the development of a 100 megawatt (MW) hydrogen combustion turbine through a government project, following its success in localizing gas turbines.

According to industry sources on Tuesday, Doosan Enerbility applied for a gas turbine-based hydrogen combustion power system demonstration project led by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in June.

The final contractor for the project will be selected later this month. For this project, Doosan Enerbility has partnered with Korea South-East Power Co., Korea Midland Power Co., Korea East-West Power Co. and subsidiaries of Korea Electric Power Corp.

SK E&S Co., Lotte Chemical Corp. and Lotte Fine Chemical Co. are being considered as potential hydrogen suppliers.

A Doosan Enerbility official said it is currently undergoing an internal evaluation process and awaiting project approval.

The project’s key objective is to develop a mid-sized (up to 100 MW) hydrogen combustion turbine for power generation, aiming for 40 percent thermal efficiency and a combustion temperature above 1500 degrees, the highest in its class.

The project will proceed in two phases: the first phase, lasting 2 years and 6 months, will focus on developing the hydrogen combustion turbine.

The second phase will see power companies providing necessary facilities and hydrogen for the demonstration. The Korean government will invest 12 billion won ($8.7 million) in the project.

A hydrogen combustion turbine for power generation uses hydrogen as 100 percent fuel, unlike hydrogen co-firing gas turbines that mix liquefied natural gas (LNG) with hydrogen and emit carbon.

Hydrogen combustion turbines have zero carbon emissions, making them an ultimate technology in eco-friendly power generation.

Although the demonstration capacity of the hydrogen combustion turbine promoted by KETEP is only 1/14th of a Korean standard nuclear power plant (1400 MW), it is significant as no company has yet demonstrated a 100 MW-class hydrogen combustion turbine.

The industry notes that the current trend is the hydrogen co-firing model.

U.S. gas turbine giant General Electric Co. (GE) is developing a high-concentration hydrogen combustor and aims to demonstrate a large gas turbine with a 50 percent hydrogen co-firing rate.

Germany’s Siemens AG is also conducting demonstrations with a co-firing rate of around 30 percent.

Doosan Enerbility is expected to take a leading position in the hydrogen turbine market, which is projected to grow to 2.84 trillion yen ($17.6 billion) by 2030, according to Japan’s Yano Research Institute.