The H2Real project aims to develop a “Hydrogen Valley”1 in eastern Austria and trial the creation of an integrated value chain – from hydrogen production and storage through to distribution and consumption – under real-life conditions. Numerous partners from industry and research2 are collaborating on the project to drive forward efforts to develop a hydrogen industry in Austria. H2Real plans to facilitate large-scale trial runs of hydrogen technologies and applications before going on to instigate upscaling projects.
The following timetable has been drawn up based on the economic and environmental requirements of the individual industry partners:
> Joint investments and coordinated infrastructure projects covering several federal states and regions
> Developing, implementing and optimising innovative hydrogen concepts and new technical solutions (including several de-monstrator models)
> Harnessing synergy effects throughout the value chain in order to push down the price of hydrogen
World’s first trial run of hydrogen in a Viennese gas turbine
One current trial project forming part of H2Real is Wien Energie’s trial run using hydrogen in its Donaustadt power plant. Working together with VERBUND, RheinEnergie and Siemens Energy, it is testing out co-firing hydrogen into the gas turbine of a combined heat and power plant. This trial is the first in the world to be run on a commercial gas and steam turbine power plant in this performance class. The first set of interim results indicate that the trial run is going well: it has already been possible to increase the amount of hydrogen used to power the gas turbines to 15 per cent by volume on some days. The gas turbines used by Wien Energie, RheinEnergie and VERBUND are virtually identical. Depending on what is required and how they are operated, they can generate either electricity or heat, which can be fed into district heating networks. The gas turbines can be started up and shut down quickly, enabling them to balance out fluctuations in the power grid that occur when wind and solar power is generated. All three companies use a Siemens Energy gas turbine (model SGT5-4000F).
15 % percent hydrogen by volume is to be mixed in with the natural gas at the start
33,000 t carbon dioxide could be saved every year
The trial run involved cofiring different quantities of green hydrogen with the natural gas currently used on around ten test days (between mid-July and mid-September). Having started with 5 per cent hydrogen by volume, the project partners gradually increased this to as much as 15 per cent. They will analyse the data that they have collected on the plant’s operational behaviour in detail between now and spring 2024. The aim is to get these gas turbines certified to have up to 15 per cent hydrogen by volume added into them in day-to-day operations. There are plans for a follow-up project to increase this figure to around 30 per cent. Even just co-firing 15 per cent green hydrogen would save some 33,000 tonnes of CO2 a year at the Donaustadt power plant.
Green hydrogen will play a key role in the energy supply of the future. The hydrogen trial run at the Donaustadt power plant will supply some vital insights and data on the efficiency of cofiring hydrogen. The findings will be highly pertinent to the continued development of next-generation gas turbines and a major milestone on the path to climate-neutral district heating networks.
Yet the trial run is also breaking new ground in the decarbonisation of the gas industry at international level, because the model of gas turbine used in the Donaustadt power plant can be found in over 115 plants in Europe and 360 worldwide.
„Using green gases in our power plants will play a key role in the heating transition and in climate protection in our city. By holding the world’s first trial run using hydrogen in a gas turbine, we’re taking that decisive step from the drawing board to the plant floor. This international joint project will set an example for the entire industry to follow.“
Michael Strebl
Chairman of the Board of Management, Wien Energie
www.wiva.at/startschuss-fuer-das-projekt-h2real
positionen.wienenergie.at/projekte/waerme-kalte/gruenes-kraftwerk-donaustadt
1 www.clean-hydrogen.europa.eu/get-involved/mission-innovation-hydrogen-valleys-platform_en
2 Industry partners: Wien Energie, Austrian Power Grid AG, Energie Burgenland AG, Energienetze Steiermark GmbH, Gas Connect Austria GmbH, Hafen Wien GmbH, Linde, movingpower GmbH, Netz Burgenland GmbH, NÖ Netz, Wiener Linien, Wiener Netze GmbH, Wiener Wasserstoff GmbH, Windkraft Simonsfeld AG
Research partners: AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Energy Institute at Johannes Kepler University Linz, HyCentA Research GmbH, TU Wien
The H2Real project forms part of the WIVA P&G – Austria Power & Gas Model Region Hydrogen Initiative research initiative.
www.wiva.at
