Hanwha, Korea Western Power Team up to Fuel Gas Turbines on Hydrogen

Hanwha General Chemical Co. and Korea Western Power Co. have joined forces to develop a hydrogen-fired gas turbine that can use both liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen for fueling to reduce carbon emissions by the first half of 2023.

Hanwha General Chemical announced on Tuesday that it signed an agreement with Korea Western Power to launch a project to develop technology that ramps up hydrogen content in gas turbines. Hydrogen-fired gas turbines are a key to low-carbon energy production.

The chemical unit of Hanwha Group last month acquired U.S. Power Systems Mfg. (PSM) and Netherlands’ Ansaldo Thomassen B.V (ATH) to secure an original technology to convert LNG turbines to hydrogen-fueled ones. It will also make the most of its technology that improves efficiency and performance of gas turbines.

The company will move an old 80-megawatt gas turbine owned by Korea Western Power to its Daesan factory and redesign the turbine to increase hydrogen mix to more than 50 percent, the highest level in the country. It eventually plans to convert the turbine into a 100 percent byproduct hydrogen-fueled one.

The ultimate goal of Hanwha General Chemical and Korea Western Power is to achieve 100 percent hydrogen capability for all of the eight gas turbines of Korea Western Power’s power plant in Incheon.

“We will successfully complete the project with our world-class hydrogen mix gas turbine technology,” said Hanwha General Chemical CEO Park Seung-deok.