German energy firm Uniper is evaluating the possibility of retrofitting one of its largest gas-fired power plants in the UK to run on up to 40pc hydrogen.

Uniper is working with US turbine manufacturer GE to assess the hydrogen readiness of the 1,365MW Grain combined-cycle gas turbine plant on the Isle of Grain, east of London.

Grain was commissioned in 2011 and is Uniper’s newest power plant in the UK.

“The assessment will provide us with the scope of the upgrade needed to support operation of up to 40pc hydrogen by volume, while maintaining both plant economics and reliability,” says Ian Rogers, Uniper’s head of asset improvement.

The project forms part of a wider collaboration between the two companies aimed at exploring options for the long-term decarbonisation of Uniper's gas-fired power plants and natural gas storage facilities. 

1,365MW – Capacity of Grain power plant

Uniper operates five gas-fired plants in the UK, with a combined capacity of just over 4GW.

GE says its gas turbines globally have already spent more than 8mn operating hours burning hydrogen.

“GE is continuing to advance our gas power technologies towards near zero-carbon power generation, and part of this evolution involves the modernisation of existing combined-cycle power plants through the increasing use of emissions-friendly hydrogen in GE gas turbines,” says Martin O’Neill, vice-president of strategy at GE Gas Power.

Cavendish consortium

Uniper is part of a consortium developing a blue hydrogen production facility at the Isle of Grain, which is the site of an industrial cluster that includes the UK’s largest LNG import terminal.

The Project Cavendish consortium consists of utilities Uniper and SSE Thermal; Shell; professional services firm Arup; UK power company VPI; and National Grid Ventures—the commercial arm of transmission system operator National Grid. It plans to commission a 700MW hydrogen plant in 2026, with offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) attached. The consortium aims to produce 1.75GW of hydrogen and capture and store 3mn t/yr of CO₂ by 2030.

Last year, the Cavendish consortium signed a memorandum of understanding with the Acorn CCS project to evaluate shipping CO₂ from the plant to be stored as part of the Scottish cluster.

---

Author: Stuart Penson