Paul Rodden • Season: 2024 • Episode: 357
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Welcome to The Hydrogen Podcast!
Episode 357, In this episode, Paul discusses the development of a green steel plant in Minnesota, supported by DOE funding, and the Electric Power Research Institute’s real-world findings from hydrogen-natural gas blending demonstration projects. He explores how these projects are shaping the future of hydrogen safety, decarbonization, and clean energy transitions.
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Transcript:
Green steel finds a home in Minnesota, and the EPRI gets some real world results from three hydrogen blending demonstration projects. I’ll go over this news and give my thoughts on today’s hydrogen podcast.
So the big questions in the energy industry today are, how is hydrogen the primary driving force behind the evolution of energy, where is capital being deployed for hydrogen projects globally, and where are the best investment opportunities for early adopters who recognize the importance hydrogen? I will address the critical issues and give you the information you need to deploy capital. Those are the questions that will unlock the potential of hydrogen, and this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Paul Rodden, and welcome to the hydrogen podcast.
First up to date in a press release from the US Department of Energy, DOE to invest in hydrogen for green iron facility as part of a 10 million initiative to support clean energy transitions for communities across the United States.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Wednesday, October 9, that the City of Duluth and its local development partners will receive DOE support to develop hydrogen and renewable energy systems, as well as a clean energy workforce, to enable the deployment of a green iron plant in the region. Minnesota is the nation’s largest producer of iron ore used for domestic steel production.
Duluth is one of three new communities—alongside Nashville, Tennessee, and Lane County, Oregon—to receive $10 million collectively in funding and technical assistance. Teams of local governments, electric utilities, and community-based groups will work closely with experts from DOE’s world class national laboratories over two to three years through an in-depth partnership with the DOE’s Clean Energy to Communities (C2C) program. In-depth partnerships are a key approach used by C2C to support communities with renewable energy and grid, mobility, building, and resilience challenges. To date, almost 300 communities in the United States have received support from C2C to advance their goals and drive clean energy progress across the country.
Okay, so green steel finding a home in the United States. Now, details around this development are still sketchy, and the 10 million in funding is split between the green steel project in Duluth and two other sites in Tennessee and Oregon. Now, the C to C program does have quite a few projects under its belt since its inception in January of last year, but this is the first hydrogen project, an aspect of the C to C program that I do like very much, and meets a critical need in the hydrogen economy here in the US, is the engagement level opportunity, which includes the ability to select from three different levels of engagement, including in depth technical partnerships that are multi year partnerships and provide cross sector modeling, analysis and validation, paired with direct funding to help teams of local governments, electric utilities and community based organizations reach their goals and or overcome specific challenges.
They also have pure learning cohorts, which are small groups of approximately 15 local governments, electric utilities or community based organizations, each that meet regularly for approximately six months to learn from each other and lab experts in a collaborative environment to develop program proposals, action plan strategies and or best practices on a predetermined clean energy topic. They also can match with an expert, which is a 40 to 60 hour session with one or more technical experts to help address near term clean energy questions or challenges for dozens of communities. Now, each one of these options has the potential to provide extremely valuable support to kickstart projects like the green steel Duluth project. So congratulations to Duluth and surrounding communities on this win. I hope for great success for all parties involved.
Next in an article in powermag.com written by EPRI, hydrogen attracts significant investments to support a decarbonized energy economy. In late 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $7 billion initiative to establish seven Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs, aiming to scale the use of cost-effective clean hydrogen. This initiative comes as utilities face growing pressures from data centers and other industries that are demanding increasingly large amounts of reliable power. Hydrogen’s role in helping utilities meet these growing demands while adhering to net zero carbon goals makes it an essential part of the energy transition. With more companies pledging carbon neutrality, hydrogen provides a versatile tool for balancing increased demand with sustainability efforts.
Globally, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) projects that 5.5 TW of electrolyzer capacity will be required by 2050 to meet climate goals. While the timelines and strategies for integrating hydrogen into the energy economy vary, EPRI is focusing on understanding applications of hydrogen to aid in power sector decarbonization while maintaining reliability and affordability.
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has partnered with utilities and diverse stakeholders in its Low-Carbon Resources Initiative and Gas Turbine Advanced Components and Technologies Program to explore using hydrogen as a fuel in various natural gas power plants. “The blending with natural gas aims to incrementally reduce carbon emissions,” said Alex Gupta, EPRI’s Low-Carbon Fuel Safety Specialist. “Using existing assets with a relatively low hydrogen concentration allows for some decarbonization, with potential for higher as hydrogen blends and infrastructure matures.”
One important aspect of utilizing hydrogen to decarbonize the power sector is ensuring it does not pose unintended safety and environmental risks. Additionally, developing standardized best practices for stakeholders is essential as hydrogen use in natural gas power plants expands.
EPRI’s recent research initiative, detailed in the report “Safety and Environmental Lessons from Hydrogen-Natural Gas Cofiring Demonstrations,” addresses these concerns. EPRI analyzed three demonstration projects to understand the safety measures, environmental concerns, and lessons from real-world hydrogen and natural gas cofiring. The projects varied in size, prime mover technology, and hydrogen percentage in the fuel mix: A 45-MW gas turbine operated by New York Power Authority (NYPA), with hydrogen blends between 5% and 44%. A 265-MW gas turbine operated by Southern Company, using fuel blends ranging from 0% to 20% hydrogen. An 18.8-MW equivalent reciprocating internal combustion engine (RICE), operating with 10% to 25% hydrogen blends.
These projects represent a cross-section of the natural gas power-generating assets in operation across the U.S.
EPRI’s analysis provided insights to guide future deployments of hydrogen-natural gas blends. Concerns that hydrogen might increase nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions were not substantiated; emissions were monitored, and no increase was detected.
“We didn’t observe adverse environmental impacts. NOx emissions were comparable to those from natural gas, and overall environmental impacts were reduced due to lower direct carbon emissions,” Gupta said. “While hydrogen offers considerable benefits in reducing carbon emissions, it’s important to acknowledge that its production, particularly through electrolysis, is energy-intensive. The need to balance these energy demands with renewable sources is crucial for ensuring that hydrogen contributes to decarbonization without creating new challenges in energy efficiency. Scaling green hydrogen will require vast renewable energy capacities to match the demand.”
Safety concerns, particularly around leaks, were also addressed. No leaks or safety issues were detected during the three projects’ operations. Established industry protocols and hydrogen-specific codes and standards, such as NFPA 2, proved effective in ensuring safety.
The demonstrations confirmed that co-firing hydrogen with natural gas does not necessitate novel emissions controls or operating conditions. Gupta noted, “Operations were routine, similar to burning any other fuel.” The best practices EPRI identified to facilitate future projects include:
Early identification of applicable codes and standards is critical, with a focus on exceeding safety and environmental requirements. Establish a collaborative project team, with clear roles and responsibilities, and a comprehensive project plan involving local communities, regulators, and permitting authorities. Safety and operational measures should include proper site layout, pressure system integrity, reliable fuel blending controls, comprehensive emissions monitoring, and independent verification and safety reviews. A thorough safety protocol includes strategic sensor placement for leak detection, access control to sensitive areas, environmental health and safety (EHS) training, and clear communication.
These best practices aim to accelerate hydrogen’s role in power sector decarbonization. “Our report serves as a guide for those interested in hydrogen combustion, offering a starting point that avoids reinventing the wheel and ensuring safety and beneficial environmental outcomes,” Gupta concluded.
Okay, so the Electric Power Research Institute really putting in the hours to examine hydrogen co firing plants and getting real world numbers to address the safety concerns around the application. And I’ll be honest, I was surprised to see the fuel mixture in the various projects up to a 44% blend in the 45 megawatt turbine in New York that is an incredibly high mixture, and for there to be no adverse effects is very good news. Now I don’t know that these demonstrations went long enough to determine if any embrittlement took place, but to see that there were no increases in NOx emissions or hydrogen leaks is very reassuring. And I would love to know more about their findings, but the report is $10,000 and I don’t need to know that badly. However, if any of you listening are a funding member of the EPRI there is no cost to you to view the report.
All right, that’s it for me, everyone. If you have a second, I would really appreciate it. If you could leave a good review on whatever platform it is that you listen to Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google, YouTube, whatever it is, that would be a tremendous help to the show. And as always, if you ever have any feedback, you’re welcome to email me directly at info@thehydrogenpodcast.com. So until next time, keep your eyes up and honor one another.
Hey, this is Paul. I hope you liked this podcast. If you did and want to hear more. I’d appreciate it if you would either subscribe to this channel on YouTube, or connect with your favorite platform through my website at www.thehydrogenpodcast.com. Thanks for listening. I very much appreciate it. Have a great day.
