Georgia Power tests hydrogen fuel blend at Plant McDonough

ATLANTA — Georgia Power completed a demonstration project this week blending hydrogen with natural gas at the utility’s Plant McDonough-Atkinson in Smyrna.

The project was the first to test a blend of 20% hydrogen in a natural gas turbine in North America. The blend produced a 7% reduction in carbon emissions at a plant that burned coal until switching to gas a decade ago.

Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company, worked in partnership with Mitsubishi Power.

“This monumental hydrogen demonstration project at Plant McDonough-Atkinson is another example of how, at Georgia Power and Southern Company, we are building the future of energy today,” Allen Reaves, senior vice president and senior production officer at Georgia Power, said. “This demonstration helps pave the way for long-term clean and carbon-free use for already existing infrastructure. Making these smart investments today on behalf of our customers ensures we can continue to provide clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy as Georgia grows and thrives for decades to come.”

The Washington, D.C.-based Electric Power Research Institute, an independent nonprofit energy research and development organization, supported the development of the project. EPRI researchers were on-site during the testing, and the organization will publish a detailed report on the testing and results later this summer.

“Accelerating low-carbon technology development is essential to achieve net-zero targets by mid-century,” Neva Espinoza, vice president of energy supply and low-carbon resources at EPRI, said. “This successful hydrogen demonstration test reinforces the significant, game-changing role that this and other low-carbon technologies can play to help reach economy-wide decarbonization.”

Two years ago, Southern Company announced a long-term of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Mitsubishi Power provided full turnkey service for the project, including engineering, planning, hydrogen blending hardware, controls and risk management.

The project built upon Mitsubishi Power’s hydrogen combustion experience and ongoing hydrogen combustion development at the company’s facility in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Mitsubishi recently announced it will establish the world’s first center for testing hydrogen-related technologies.