Mitsubishi Power has announced that Takasago Hydrogen Park has entered full-scale operation. Located at MHI’s Takasago Machinery Works in Hyogo Prefecture in west central Japan, it is the world’s first integrated hydrogen validation facility.
Electrolysis hydrogen production recently began operation at the park, and Mitsubishi Power shared that it aims to improve product reliability through the validation of hydrogen co-firing and 100% hydrogen firing using gas turbines, while also implementing successive expansion with the introduction of next-generation hydrogen production technologies.
Takasago Hydrogen Park is divided into areas with three hydrogen-related functions: hydrogen production, storage, and utilization.
In the production area, an alkaline electrolyzer manufactured by HydrogenPro AS of Norway with a hydrogen production capacity of 1,100Nm3/h, the highest in the world, has entered operation. The hydrogen produced will be stored in storage equipment with a total capacity of 39,000 Nm3.
The validation of hydrogen firing equipment will be done at the T-Point 2 combined cycle power plant validation facility located in the utilization area, using a Mitsubishi Power JAC (J-series Air-Cooled) large frame gas turbine (450 MW class), as well as small- and mid-sized H-25 gas turbine (40 MW class) that had been installed for compressor driving at a combustion test facility.
The hydrogen produced at Takasago Hydrogen Park will be used to validate 30% hydrogen co-firing at T-Point 2, a grid-connected JAC gas turbine combined cycle power plant, and is planned to be completed before the end of the year.
Validation of 100% hydrogen firing in the H-25 gas turbine is planned for 2024.
Mitsubishi Power is currently developing hydrogen production technologies, including solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC), anion exchange membrane (AEM) water electrolyzers, and next-generation turquoise-hydrogen production technology that produces hydrogen without emitting CO2 through the pyrolysis of methane into hydrogen and solid carbon.
The company plans to conduct verification and validation in these areas sequentially. After developing these fundamental technologies for products based on its own technologies at the Nagasaki Carbon Neutral Park, Mitsubishi Power plans to carry out hydrogen production validation of these technologies at the Takasago Hydrogen Park with the aim of achieving commercialization.
MHI Group shared it is pursuing the energy transition as an engine for corporate growth based on its declaration of “MISSION NET ZERO” targeting carbon neutrality by 2040. Its initiatives fall into three core areas: decarbonization of existing infrastructure, realization of a hydrogen solutions ecosystem, and achievement of a CO2 solutions ecosystem.
Working to establish this “hydrogen solutions ecosystem,” Mitsubishi Power will leverage the Takasago Hydrogen Park to accelerate the development and actual equipment validation of hydrogen production and power generation technologies. Through its products, the company said it will continue to contribute to the stable supply of electricity worldwide and the rapid realization of a carbon-neutral society.