By Larry Felton Johnson

Georgia Power recently announced the successful test of a trial blending a 50 percent mix of hydrogen and natural gas in a natural gas turbine at its Plant McDonough Atkinson near Smyrna.

The test was conducted in partnership with Mitsubishi Power, on one of that company’s M501GAC natural gas turbines.

A press release from Georgia Power states that “the demonstration project is the first to validate 50% hydrogen fuel blending on an advanced class gas turbine, and the largest test of this kind in the world to date, with the 50% blend providing an approximately 22% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to 100% natural gas.”

The press release further stated that, before this recent test, demonstration testing was conducted with hydrogen percentages lower than 50% over several weeks in May and June.

Plant McDonough-Atkinson, located on the Chattahoochee River in Cobb County, was converted to generate electricity using natural gas turbines in 2012. It was previously a coal-powered plant.

In 2022, Georgia Power and Mitsubishi conducted a test with a 20 percent mix of hydrogen.

“Natural gas serves a critical role in our generation mix, providing flexibility, baseload power and quick response to customer demand, and will continue to be an important fuel as we plan to meet the energy needs of a growing Georgia through a diverse portfolio of generation resources,” said Rick Anderson, senior vice president and senior production officer for Georgia Power, quoted in the press release. “At Georgia Power, innovative testing such as this is just one way we help ensure we can deliver reliable and affordable energy for customers for decades into the future, and reduce our overall emissions.”

“Investments we’re making in our fleet and power grid today will benefit future generations, and I’m very proud of the team at Plant McDonough-Atkinson and Mitsubishi Power for their dedication to this project and safely completing this test,” Anderson said.

“It has been a privilege to partner with Georgia Power on this landmark project,” said Mark Bissonnette, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Power Generation at Mitsubishi Power Americas, quoted in the press release. “Building on the success of our earlier tests, we have achieved a 50% hydrogen blend in an advanced-class gas turbine, showcasing the capabilities of our state-of-the-art technology. This is a significant milestone for both companies to help Georgia Power reduce carbon emissions across its generation fleet.”

What are the advantages and disadvantages of hydrogen in gas turbines?

The Courier spoke with Dr. Karen Thole, Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering at the University of Michigan, and asked her about the advantages and disadvantages of using hydrogen in gas turbines in electrical power plants.

The university describes Dr. Thole’s expertise as follows:

An expert in heat transfer and cooling of gas turbine airfoils, Thole’s detailed experimental and analytical work has influenced the way that gas turbines are designed—both for propulsion and power generation.

Commenting on the advantage of the use of hydrogen in turbines, Tholes said, “The upside certainly is that there is less CO2, so less impact to the environment.”

“On the negative side, current power plants have to be retrofitted with some pieces, including a different combustor in most cases, and so that’s a little bit of an expense,” she said. “The combustors generally run at higher temperatures, meaning that they can also emit more NOx, so that needs to be accounted for.”

NOx refers to nitrogen oxides, a group of gaseous compounds made up of nitrogen and oxygen. The two primary forms, nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), are air pollutants that form during the combustion of fuels, especially at high temperatures.

Thole also stated that almost all hydrogen produced at this point involves the use of fossil fuels that generate CO2, but that there are ways of producing hydrogen that don’t have this downside.

Another challenge she mentioned is that transporting hydrogen to the power plants would be different from transporting natural gas.

“Our current pipeline structure infrastructure, which is very good at transporting natural gas, is not necessarily very good for transporting hydrogen,” Thole said.

Dr. Thole emphasized the importance of U.S. Department of Energy grants in research on turbines.

“I think what’s important to point out is that the Department of Energy has had multiple decades of research going on to create a hydrogen turbine,” she said. “This just didn’t happen overnight.”

“I’d like you to recognize the importance that the research that was supported by the US Department of Energy played in this ability to create a hydrogen turbine that works,” Thole said.

“It’s not just the R&D that the Department of Energy funded at companies to get to this point,” Thole said. “It’s also R&D that came out of the universities.”

“So what’s really nice about this turbine area, and I work in this space, is that the collaborative effort between industry and universities through support of the federal funding is really what makes a lot of this technology move into a place that can be developed for such scale projects like this one,” she said.

How do gas turbines work?

The following video gives an overview of gas turbines, focusing on the use of hydrogen :

Reaction of the local environmentalist community

Rickey Leroux, communications strategist from the Georgia Sierra Club, spoke with the Courier about the Georgia Power and Mitsubishi test.

He said, “I think just generally anytime we can reduce carbon emissions, that’s a good thing, but I do think we need to be very mindful about how we go about it.”

“Most of the hydrogen that we have domestically … is created using a very fossil fuel-heavy process,” he said. “And so where the hydrogen fuel comes from has to be considered when you’re talking about the overall aggregate amount of reduction in emissions.”

“There is a way to make hydrogen using clean energy through electrolysis, but that’s a very, very small amount in terms of the percentage of overall hydrogen that gets produced,” said Leroux.

“We’re in a very serious situation with climate change, and we need to be taking strong and serious steps towards reducing carbon emissions,” he said. “And while maybe one day a plant like this could run on a hundred percent hydrogen, we’re not there yet, and I don’t think we can use waiting for that perfect technology to come along as an excuse to delay taking action now, because we know that solar power with batteries is the cheapest way to produce electricity.”

“I don’t know what their ultimate goals are with it, but investing now in solar power with battery storage is just a better long-term use of money, in my opinion.

Where does Georgia Power’s use of hydrogen in turbines go from here?

The Courier sent a follow-up email to Georgia Power’s media relations team, inquiring about the source of the hydrogen used in the test and the company’s plans for proceeding.

Matthew Kent, communications specialist for Georgia Power’s parent company, the Southern Company, responded and wrote that the hydrogen was provided by Certarus. He described the hydrogen as “mostly clean.”

“This was the second test since 2022. Georgia Power and its partners will study the full results of these trial demonstrations to better assess the future potential of this fuel source,” Kent wrote.