How Georgia Power, Mitsubishi Power, Southern Company Research & Development, and EPRI were the first to validate 20% hydrogen fuel blending on an advanced class gas turbine in North America

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20% - A Record Breaking Advancement and the Next Step in the Decarbonization Pathway

Located north of Atlanta, the Plant McDonough-Atkinson facility in Smyrna, Georgia, generates enough energy to power more than 1.7 million homes. To bring cleaner, more efficient energy to the area, the plant converted to natural gas in 2012, operating six M501G series gas turbines, along with three steam turbines in a 2-on-1 combined-cycle configuration. Now, as the next step in its decarbonization pathway, Plant McDonough-Atkinson has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of blending 20% hydrogen fuel in its advanced class gas turbines.

The Significance of 20% Hydrogen Blending on a Utility-Scale Gas Turbine

Hydrogen fuel in gas turbines is seen as a promising bridge to a low/zero carbon future power system. Since it contains no carbon, hydrogen as a fuel source directly reduces the carbon emitted by a gas turbine. However, much of the experience regarding hydrogen blending on gas turbines has been on older engines with diffusion flame combustion systems and operation at lower pressures and temperatures.

The successful hydrogen blending demonstration at Plant McDonough-Atkinson serves as an example to other CCGT power plants on how to safely increase hydrogen fuel blending percentages without impacting system reliability, all while reducing emissions and improving the turbine’s efficiency.

Complete End-to-End Solution for Clean Energy

From the Advanced Clean Energy project in Utah to storage hubs in the northeast, mid-Atlantic, and Gulf coast, our hydrogen technologies enable large-scale, long-duration energy storage that shifts variable renewable energy over time, from hours to seasons, when the grid needs it most.

Testing Results: Lowered Emissions, Increased Performance

Mitsubishi Power provided full turnkey service for this project including engineering, planning, hydrogen blending hardware, controls, commissioning, and risk management. Mitsubishi Power partnered with Certarus to source and manage the hydrogen supply and researchers from EPRI performed the testing. The results of this demonstration support the feasibility of using hydrogen as a fuel source in large-scale gas turbines to reduce CO emissions, enhance performance, and allow further operational flexibility with minimal changes to existing plant infrastructure and hardware.

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Making The Hydrogen Revolution A Reality

Explore the potential of clean hydrogen, from quick wins to long-term vision, as we work towards accelerating the transition to a net-zero future. More regulatory action, commercial projects, permitting reform, scalable production, and increased investment are needed to drive progress in this early stage of clean-hydrogen energy. Collaboration among stakeholders is essential for realizing the enormous potential of Earth’s lightest molecule.

The Key to 20% Hydrogen is 100% Teamwork

Recent breakthrough test of hydrogen in an advanced-class gas turbine reveals that forging the frontier of the energy transition requires collaboration at a whole new level. Meet the team that made this successful project possible.

Prasanth Thupili
Neva Espinoza
Richard Cheng
Jeff Wilson
Eric Johnson
Abey Emmanuel
Unay Onate
Steve Kilmartin
Hydrogen: Why Now and For What? Guidebook Cover Page

Hydrogen: Why Now and What For?

At Mitsubishi Power we’re in a position to innovate in decarbonization, foster new strategic collaborations and commercialize new solutions – all of which will empower the world to reach net zero goals in 2040 or sooner.