Duke Energy to create nation’s first turbine capable of producing, storing and combusting 100 percent green hydrogen
Florida will soon gain a national first thanks to Duke Energy: a demonstration project capable of producing, storing and combusting 100 percent green hydrogen, with support from an existing solar plant.
Groundbreaking will take place in DeBary, Florida soon at Duke Energy Florida’s plant in Volusia County. The end results will be a collaboration between Duke Energy, Sargent and Lundy, and GE Vernova, built on an existing 74.5 MW solar plant. That clean energy will charge two 1 MW electrolyzer units to separate water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen atoms, with the resulting oxygen released into the air and the green hydrogen delivered into storage.
“Duke Energy is constantly evolving and seeking ways to provide clean, safe energy solutions to our customers,” Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president, said. “DeBary will be home to Duke Energy’s first green hydrogen production and storage system connected to existing solar for power generation, and we are grateful to the city for allowing this innovative technology in their community.”
If demand peaks under this new system, stored hydrogen will be dispatched to a combustion turbine, then upgraded using GE Vernova technology and run on a natural gas/hydrogen blend or up to 100 percent hydrogen. While other facilities have allowed for blends in the past, nothing in the country has pursued such a high percentage of hydrogen.
Like natural gas, hydrogen would be an on-demand, dispatchable energy source, not dependent on time of day, weather or other factors that affect intermittent energy sources. In this way, Duke Energy sees hydrogen as a way to bolster its reliability.
“Duke Energy anticipates hydrogen could play a major role in our clean energy future,” Regis Repko, senior vice president of generation and transmission strategy for Duke Energy, said. “Hydrogen has significant potential for decarbonization across all sectors of the U.S. economy. It is a clean energy also capable of long-duration storage, which would help Duke Energy ensure grid reliability as we continue adding more renewable energy sources to our system.”
The company noted that construction should take approximately a year to complete. It’s aiming for an operational date sometime next year.
