DOE will partner with private companies to research advanced technology solutions that could make hydrogen a more available and effective fuel for electricity generation. This includes improving capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) associated with hydrogen production from carbon-based resources and technologies to more efficiently use hydrogen in gas turbines for electricity generation. The six projects will fast-track the development of technologies that will improve the performance, reliability and flexibility of existing and new hydrogen technologies, DOE said.
“Across the Department, we’re working to make clean energy sources — like hydrogen — more affordable and accessible to help decarbonize America’s electrical grid and directly combatting climate change,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “The public-private partnerships announced … are paving the way for more domestic clean hydrogen production and use to support the President’s plans to combat climate change, accelerate clean energy use, and create good-paying clean energy jobs for Americans.”
Hydrogen can be produced through a variety of low-carbon pathways, including domestic resources like natural gas and waste coal, coupled with carbon capture and storage; biomass; and renewable energy sources. These qualities make it an attractive fuel option for electricity generation and industrial applications, such as in buildings and manufacturing.
DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) under the purview of the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) will manage the selected projects:
8 Rivers Capital LLC (Durham, N.C.) will complete an engineering design study for a hydrogen production plant that produces 99.97% pure hydrogen and captures 90% to 99% of CO2 emissions, which will be transported and stored at Painter Reservoir Gas Complex in Evanston, Wyoming. (Award: $1,412,863)
Gas Technology Institute (Des Plaines, Ill.) will study the use of ammonia-hydrogen fuel mixtures in gas turbines to strengthen the use of ammonia as a clean low-carbon fuel for electricity generation. (Award: $3,000,000)
General Electric Company (Greenville, S.C.) will develop and test gas turbine components with natural gas-hydrogen fuel mixtures up to 100% hydrogen, to study and address combustion challenges associated with burning highly reactive hydrogen fuels. (Award: $5,986,440)
General Electric, GE Research (Niskayuna, N.Y.) will study the operation of hydrogen-fueled turbine components, which could substantially improve gas turbine efficiency for simple- and combined-cycle power generation applications. (Award: $6,999,923)
Raytheon Technologies Research Center (East Hartford, Ct.) will develop and test the effectiveness of natural gas turbine engine components in high-temperature rigs using natural gas-hydrogen fuel mixtures with increasing hydrogen content. (Award: $4,499,999)
Raytheon Technologies Research Center will study, develop and test an ammonia-fired gas turbine combustor that generates low nitrous oxide emissions, with robust operability and stability for greater than 99.99% efficiency. (Award: $2,999,219)
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is providing $8 billion for clean hydrogen demonstration and research hubs.
FECM funds research, development, demonstration and deployment projects to decarbonize power generation and industrial production to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and to mitigate the environmental impacts of fossil fuel production and use. Priority areas of technology work include point-source carbon capture, CO2 conversion, CO2 removal, reliable carbon storage and transport, hydrogen with carbon management, methane emissions reduction, and critical minerals production.
