Ohio Power Plant to Switch to Hydrogen

Ohio-based energy developer Long Ridge Energy Terminal plans to work with US LNG operator New Fortress Energy (NFE) and engineering group General Electric (GE) to turn a 485-MW combined-cycle gas power plant it is building to run on carbon-free hydrogen.

Long Ridge intends to begin blending hydrogen with gas supplies to the plant as soon as it comes online in November 2021, NFE said in a statement announcing the partnership. The station will be capable of running on 100% green hydrogen, produced from water using renewable energy, within a decade.

It will be the first power plant in the world to use a gas-hydrogen blend in a GE H-class gas turbine, which can run on between 15-20% hydrogen in the mix, NFE said. Long Ridge has also teamed up with NFE's new hydrogen development unit Zero to help it meet zero-emissions targets.

Long Ridge will access industrial byproduct hydrogen for testing purposes, but plans to produce green hydrogen using electrolysis from the Ohio river. Over time, below-ground salt formations can be used for large-scale hydrogen storage.

The parties still need to finalise the terms of their commercial partnership.