Technicians from GRTgaz, OGE and Solar Turbines have successfully powered a gas turbine with a hydrogen admixture of up to 25%. The highlight: Normally, the propulsion only takes place with natural gas. The scene of the month-long tests was the MEGAL compressor station in Waidhaus.
For the project, the transmission system operators GRTgaz Deutschland and OGE had joined forces with the American gas turbine manufacturer Solar Turbines. The tests took place at the Waidhaus compressor station of the Central European Gas Pipeline (MEGAL) in Bavaria. MEGAL's shareholders are OGE with 51% of the shares and GRTgaz Deutschland with 49%.
No loss of power due to admixture
The gas turbine, which runs exclusively on green hydrogen, was intensively tested with different H2 admixtures under various load conditions. The measured emission and power values showed that the turbine can be operated with the same available power while complying with the required emission specifications.
During the demonstration operation, which lasted more than six weeks, the turbine was operated with the H2 mixture for a total of more than 200 hours. Safe start-up of the gas turbine with the fuel mixture was also demonstrated.
New chapter in "MEGAL success story
Preparations for the project began two years ago with the construction of a mobile blending plant the size of a 40-foot ISO container and a temporary hydrogen supply. The entire plant was accepted by an expert in accordance with the rules applicable to public energy supply and approved for operation.
Nicolas Delaporte, Managing Director of GRTgaz Germany:
"This test is a good example of how we, as an energy industry, tackle and solve the important issues together and across countries. I am convinced that in the spirit of this international partnership we will continue the MEGAL success story."
