Jera intends to test the viability of hydrogen co-fired technology at existing combined-cycle gas-turbine (CCGT) units at New York’s Cricket Valley Energy Center (CVEC), with the goal of co-firing hydrogen in Japanese gas-fired power stations by the 2030s.
CVEC and US engineering firm GE signed an initial agreement to collaborate on a project to minimize carbon emissions at one of CVEC’s three CCGT units utilizing hydrogen co-fired technology. Jera, which owns 38 percent of CVEC, will co-fire 5 percent hydrogen with natural gas. The project is scheduled to start in late 2022.
At the CVEC power complex, Jera runs three CCGT units with a total capacity of 1.1GW. The commercial operation of the CCGT units began in April of last year.
The utility is boosting technology development and new business activities to minimize emissions in order to meet its objective of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 20 percent by 2030 and reaching net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.
Jera received a $50,000 ($450,000) grant from Nedo last month to investigate carbon-free synthetic methane for future gas-fired power plant use. Its subsidiary Jera Americas is doing the research in the United States due to the lower cost of renewable energy in the country.
