Mitsubishi Announces Hydrogen Breakthroughs

Mitsubishi Power has launched what it calls the world’s first standard packages for green hydrogen integration.

Mitsubishi Power’s integrated green hydrogen solutions are the Hydaptive package and the Hystore package. The Hydaptive package is designed to provide renewable energy flexibility by acting as a near-instantaneous power balancing resource that greatly enhances the ability of a simple cycle or combined cycle power plant to ramp output up and down to provide grid balancing services. It integrates a hydrogen and natural gas fueled gas turbine power plant with electrolysis to produce green hydrogen using 100% renewable power and onsite storage of green hydrogen. Patent-pending TOMONI software and controls enable rapid load response by integrating operations of the gas turbines and the electrolysis plants. The package is available for new gas turbine power plants or as a retrofit to existing plants to improve flexibility and extend asset life.

The Hystore package combines the Hydaptive package with access to large-scale off-site hydrogen production and storage infrastructure, enabling large-scale renewable energy storage that shifts variable renewable energy over time, from hours to seasons, and provides reliable and cost-effective carbon-free energy when the grid needs it most.

With these packages, Mitsubishi Power said it optimizes integration across renewables, energy storage, and gas turbines, which all work together to create and incorporate green hydrogen — the key to reaching zero-carbon emissions.

The green hydrogen energy storage system includes three key elements. First, electrolysis plants convert excess renewable energy into hydrogen. Next, storage mediums such as salt caverns, pipelines or above ground vessels store this “green hydrogen” for hours to seasons, depending on the grid’s needs. Finally, hydrogen-enabled simple cycle or combined cycle gas turbine power plants convert the green hydrogen into centralized dispatchable electricity. Together, this storage system enables further balancing of renewable energy and better equips states and utilities to reliably and cost effectively meet their climate goals.

New hydrogen projects

Mitsubishi Power’s previously announced green hydrogen projects in Delta, Utah, are the inspiration for the Hystore package. These are the Advanced Clean Energy Storage project and the US$1.9 billion Intermountain Power Project. Today, Mitsubishi Power is announcing three new projects, with investments totaling more than US$3 billion, that can use the Hydaptive package to help convert units over time from natural gas to hydrogen energy storage. These projects each include JAC gas turbine power islands that are initially capable of operating on 30% green hydrogen, with future capability of operating on 100% green hydrogen.

The first project is at Danskammer Energy, LLC in Newburgh, New York, with a capacity of 600 MW.

“We are committed to helping New York meet its climate targets,” said Danskammer’s CEO William Reid. “We selected Mitsubishi Power’s product because it would ready our facility to be a hydrogen-based zero-carbon power generator. By partnering with Mitsubishi Power for integrated green hydrogen generation and storage technologies, we hope to provide leadership in developing short- and long-duration energy storage infrastructure in New York State.”

The second project is being developed by Balico, LLC in Virginia.

“Balico’s fully permitted 1600 MW Chickahominy Power Project is poised to deliver the critical Dominion Zone PJM market and Virginia the most efficient and reliable gas turbine technology in the world,” said Balico’s CEO Irfan K. Ali. “We are excited at the prospect of even further environmental improvement by incorporating Mitsubishi Power’s innovative renewable hydrogen based technologies.”

EmberClear chose Mitsubishi Power’s package for its fully permitted 1084 MW Harrison Power Project in Cadiz, Ohio.

“We look forward to the flexibility the Mitsubishi Power technologies will provide as we ramp green hydrogen integration,” EmberClear’s President and CEO Raj Suri said. “We expect this plant to be the first hydrogen-capable project to reach commercial operation east of the Mississippi River. We also plan to use Mitsubishi Power as the green hydrogen integrator in our Eastern Pennsylvania project, which is in the early stages of development.”

Mitsubishi Power’s package approach includes a technology, services and financial wrap.

“We previously announced two green hydrogen projects in Delta, Utah, that were the inspiration for the Hystore package, which provides massive long-duration storage of renewable energy,” said Paul Browning, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Power Americas. “We are now announcing three additional projects that will utilize the Hydaptive package to provide greatly improved power plant flexibility and make a power plant “hydrogen ready” as hydrogen infrastructure matures and renewable storage requirements increase. These standard packages offer a total solution to our customers who are seeking to integrate power generation with power storage. With these projects and others to come, we will create a true path to the zero-carbon power grid of the future.”