GE has signed a memorandum of understanding with Cricket Valley Energy Center (CVEC) to create a green hydrogen technology roadmap and advance a demonstration project in the US.
The project will be sited at CVEC’s combined cycle power plant located in Dover Plains, New York, initiating the first step toward the conversion to a 100% fuel capable plant.
The project is planned to begin in late 2022.
The initial step of the project will demonstrate the feasibility of converting the natural gas-fuelled facility to use hydrogen, in support of New York State’s nation-leading Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which mandates 100% zero carbon emissions in the electricity sector by 2040.
The project will be conducted on one of three GE 7F.05 gas turbines operating at CVEC by introducing 5% hydrogen blended with natural gas for several weeks.
The agreement between GE and CVEC will potentially expand to include hydrogen providers, along with consultation from New York State and federal agencies to develop policy guidance related to the production, transport, delivery, and storage of hydrogen.
The roadmap will serve as a research and development plan for technical changes necessary to increase the percentages of hydrogen utilisation at the plant as it becomes more readily available, while adhering to applicable operational guidelines.
“As a leader in providing reliable, dispatchable power generation, we enlisted GE’s extensive experience with hydrogen to support the development of lower-carbon technologies in the State of New York,” said Chuck Davis, president of advanced power asset management, which manages the facility.
“With this agreement, we will begin to define a roadmap for the conversion of recently constructed natural gas-fired power plants to lower and zero carbon fuels as an important initiative to maintain system reliability as New York increases investment in intermittent wind and solar to meet the CLCPA goals.”