HYFLEXPOWER operates gas turbine with 100 per cent renewable hydrogen

• 6 months ago (2023-10-17)
• David Flin

Europe 1061 Gas 371 Hydrogen 53

---

The consortium HYFLEXPOWER has used 100 per cent renewable hydrogen to operate a gas turbine on the site of Smurfit-Kappa at Saillat-sur-Vienne in France.

The HYFLEXPOWER consortium consists of Siemens Energy , ENGIE , Centrax , Arttic , the German Aerospace Centre DLR , and four European universities.

The project consists in producing, storing, and re-electrification of 100 per cent renewable hydrogen. The hydrogen is produced by a 1 MW on-site electrolyser, then stored before being used to power a Siemens Energy SGT-400 industrial gas turbine.

In 2022, an initial series of tests enabled the industrial gas turbine to operate with a 30 per cent hydrogen content mixed with natural gas. This can now be fuelled with up to 100 per cent hydrogen as well as with natural gas and any blends in between.

The next goal is to extend the operation to include industrial heat production and additional operating modes. It is also planned to explore ways of scaling up and commercialising decarbonised electricity generation.

Siemens Energy supplied the electrolyser and developed the hydrogen gas turbine. ENGIE built the hydrogen production, storage, and supply for the demonstrator. Centrax was responsible for the package upgrade to ensure safe operation with hydrogen fuel. DLR and the Universities of Lund (Sweden), Duisburg-Essen (Germany), and University College London (UK) contributed to the hydrogen turbine technology development, while NTUA in Athens, Greece carried out economic, environmental, and societal analysis of the concept.