Today in Brussels, the manufacturers of stationary gas turbines organised in the European association EUTurbines, presented a commitment for the future of power generation with renewable gas as part of the campaign #PowerTheEU. The manufacturers committed themselves to gradually convert the gas turbines, which today still burn exclusively natural gas, to renewable fuels by the year 2030.
“The commitment to have hydrogen gas turbines ready by the year 2030 – if there is a corresponding demand – and to supply machines by 2020 that can be reliably operated with 20 percent hydrogen in natural gas, is a strong signal,” says Matthias Zelinger, Managing Director of VDMA Power Systems, commenting on the manufacturers’ initiative. “This makes flexible power generation possible in an energy system that is driven less and less by fossil fuels, and together with the storage potential of the gas network, it solves one of the major open questions of future energy systems.”
Specifically, Ansaldo Energia, GE Power, MAN Energy Solutions, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Siemens and Solar Turbines commit to the following steps:
Today
• Providing gas turbines operating with renewable gases generated from carbon-neutral sources/synthetic fuels, such as synthetic methane
• Offering turbines that can operate with a mix of natural gas and 3-5 percent hydrogen, while ensuring safety and compliance with emission standards
By 2020
• Delivering in Europe only gas turbines that are capable of running with renewable gas for power generation purposes
• Providing customers with gas turbines that can handle a share of 20 percent hydrogen
• Providing retrofit solutions for existing power plants to make them fit for renewable gases
By 2030
• Meeting customer demand for gas turbines operating with 100 percent hydrogen
