Hydrogen Cofiring Demonstration at Constellation Hillabee Siemens Energy SGT6-6000G Power Plant

Abstract

Gas turbines will need to reduce CO2 emissions and prove their flexibility based on market needs and new proposed rules. Economically, utilizing existing gas turbine assets to meet these requirements will be of great benefit as compared to building new turbines. Even better, determining the lowest cost least intrusive upgrades required is of great interest to power producers. The demonstration described here was conducted on one (1) gas turbine (GT) unit at the Constellation Hillabee power plant (Siemens Energy SGT6-6000G 2 × 1 configuration), which doubled the mass flow of hydrogen of previous record-breaking dry low NOx (DLN) demonstrations. The testing was done on an unaltered, existing GT asset, which provides great value for those GTs, which are already providing power using natural gas. The demonstrated hydrogen blending percentage of 38.8% (resulting in approximately 18% reduction in CO2 emissions) proved the system capable of meeting the first best system of emissions reduction goals set forth in recent proposed U.S. EPA gas turbine rules. Such demonstrations are of critical importance as they show the inherent capability to meet reduced carbon power generation requirements without more significant cost outlays. This report documents the evaluation, preparation, execution, and results from this demonstration testing. The results are provided for the gas turbine community to use as insight into the capability and flexibility of existing assets to meet the future demands of reduced carbon power generation. Specific information around safety, reliability, emissions, and operability are discussed to provide context around existing asset capability.