Mitsubishi Power, an MHI subsidiary, is planning to establish the world’s first centre for validation of hydrogen-related technologies, from hydrogen production to power generation. The centre, Takasago Hydrogen Park, will be co-located at the gas turbine development and manufacturing facility of MHI’s Takasago Machinery Works in Hyogo Prefecture. Its main function will be to support the commercialisation of gas turbines using hydrogen as fuel.
Mitsubishi Power has already announced its 30% hydrogen co-firing for large frame gas turbines and will use the Takasago facility to commercialise small and large frame gas turbines on a path to 100% hydrogen firing, starting in 2025.
The new facility will be located hard by the T-Point 2 combined cycle power plant validation facility. Mitsubishi Power is beginning to test and demonstrate operations of technologies including hydrogen production and storage and hydrogen fuelling of gas turbines, aiming to commence operations in fiscal year 2023. The hydrogen production facility utilises a water electrolysis system, and Mitsubishi Power plans to conduct successive testing and verification of other next-generation hydrogen production technologies such as turquoise-hydrogen production by pyrolysis of methane into hydrogen and solid carbon.
An integrated system for all aspects of hydrogen-related technologies, from development to demonstration and verification, will be established at the Takasago Machinery Works. For the combustion chamber, the key component of hydrogen gas turbines, Mitsubishi Power will create a work-flow that includes development and production of an actual machine at the manufacturing plant, and validation testing at the demonstration facility. The gas turbine development process encompasses verification testing of all elements at the basic design stage, the incorporation of those results in the detailed design, and finally validation using an actual machine. The intention is to complete this development cycle within the same plant, thereby allowing for quicker and more certain product development and commercialisation.
The T-Point 2 facility conducts long-term reliability validation of newly developed technologies, including verification of the next-generation JAC (J-series Air-Cooled) large frame gas turbines, high-efficiency systems that have achieved the world’s first turbine inlet temperature of 1650°C, conducting operations equivalent to an actual power station while connected to the local power grid. This unique facility began long-term verification testing in July 2020, as a 566 MW gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) power generation facility.
To support the commercialization of hydrogen gas turbines by 2025, verification of large gas turbines is being conducted at the T-Point 2 facility using a JAC class turbine initially starting at 30% hydrogen co-firing and increasing hydrogen co-firing over time. Testing for 100% hydrogen firing of small- and mid-sized turbines will be conducted using a H-25 class gas turbine.
