Hydrogen Blending Project Commissioned on New Jersey Gas Turbine Unit

Jan 07, 2024

A unique hydrogen blending project has entered commercial operation at the Linden Cogeneration Facility (Linden Cogen) in Linden, New Jersey. The project allows Linden Cogen's Unit 6 gas turbine to operate on a blend of natural gas and refinery off gas containing hydrogen produced by the Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery, which is located adjacent to the power plant.

"We successfully implemented the new technologies and commercialized the operations," Todd Kerschbaum, Chief Technical Officer for JERA Americas, asset manager and half owner of the Linden Cogen plant, said in a statement.

Linden Cogen consists of Linden Units 1–5, which total about 800 MW that is sold into the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) Zone J energy, capacity, and ancillary services markets, and Linden Unit 6, which has a capacity of 172 MW, with energy and capacity sold into the PJM Interconnection PS North power market in New Jersey. Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. (or EGCO Group, one of the part owners of the facility) said these are two of the most-congested and capacity-constrained power markets in the U.S. Linden Cogen also has long-term process steam and electricity sales contracts with large investment grade industrial off-takers in the Bayway refinery anchored by Phillips 66. Linden Cogen is owned by JERA Americas (50%), EGCO Group (28%), DBJ (12%), and GS-Platform Partners (10%).

The hydrogen blending project was announced in July 2021. At the time, it was expected that the Unit 6 gas turbine would be capable of operating on up to a 40% hydrogen blend. EGCO Group's President Thepparat Theppitak said the company had also invested in a fuel cell power plant in South Korea, which uses hydrogen as its primary feedstock for power and heat generation. He said EGCO Group "aims to accumulate technological know-how and experience that it can apply more broadly to its domestic and international projects in the future as the technology matures."

Modifications were made to Linden Cogen's Unit 6 gas turbine as part of the project including a retrofit to incorporate PSM's FlameSheet combustion system. The FlameSheet employs a 2-in-1 can-annular combustor concept. PSM says it leverages "patented fuel-air mixing concepts and provides up to a 30% gas turbine operating load range increase while maintaining single digit NOx and CO emissions."

The hydrogen blending project stands to curb CO2 emissions at Linden Cogen by reducing the amount of natural gas used for power and steam generation. "Actual reductions will be based on how much hydrogen is used at any given time of plant operation, but the joint project is expected to reduce overall CO2 emissions by approximately 10% of annual CO2 emissions from the Unit 6, while staying within the gas turbine's stringent NOx emission requirements," Kerschbaum said. The project is also expected to improve refinery and cogen operational efficiency, and reduce CO emissions, primarily by using refinery off gas and improving flare efficiencies.

"At Phillips 66, we are committed to playing a meaningful role in the energy transition and pursuing lower-carbon opportunities. This joint project with Linden Cogen, located within the Bayway Complex, is a great example of our commitment. We are very pleased with the project's anticipated improved energy efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions," Bayway Refinery General Manager Donald Susanen said.

—Aaron Larson is POWER's executive editor (@AaronL_Power, @POWERmagazine).

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