Atura Power, a subsidiary of Ontario Power Generation, is expanding the power generation capacity at its 900 MW Napanee Generating Station in the Town of Greater Napanee, Ontario. The planned expansion has a targeted completion by 2028.

Atura Power will add an M501JAC combustion turbine from Mitsubishi Power Americas, that will operate in simple cycle and provide up to 430 MW of additional electricity. Mitsubishi Power Americas said its M501JAC is known for its operational flexibility and startup times, and can also operate as a peaker. The turbine will join two M501GAC units already operating in combined cycle at the site. This will be the fifth Mitsubishi Power M501JAC turbine in Canada.

In 2019, Ontario Power Generation acquired the Napanee Generating Station and two other gas-fired plants in a $2.8 billion deal with TC Energy (formerly known as TransCanada). The facilities included the 683 MW Halton Hills power plant, the 900 MW Napanee generating station which was nearing completion at the time, and TC Energy’s 50% interest in the 550 MW Portlands Energy Center.

The deal was subject to a number of closing conditions which included regulatory approvals and Napanee reaching commercial operations as outlined in the agreement.

Prevalon brings experience from the BESS business at Mitsubishi Power – over 30 projects, and three gigawatt hours (GWh) of utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) deployed globally. Mitsubishi Power says Prevalon will operate “with the agility of a startup.”

The new entity retains the current leadership team, technology and service offerings, employees, and other assets from the BESS global business at Mitsubishi Power. Prevalon will continue to offer the integrated end-to-end battery energy storage solution, renamed “Prevalon Battery Energy Storage Platform,” which has an energy management system that will also serve as the foundation for Prevalon’s remote monitoring and diagnostics service business.

“As the speed of the energy transition increases, it is imperative that advanced technology solutions such as battery energy storage keep pace,” said Bill Newsom, President and CEO, Mitsubishi Power Americas. “With the establishment of Prevalon, we are confident its dedicated focus on battery energy storage solutions and services will unlock more value in this business to keep pace with this hyper-growth battery energy storage market. This is an example of Mitsubishi Power’s commitment to aligning and structuring its businesses in a way that brings more value and targeted expertise to the ever-changing energy transition.”

The testing was conducted using combustion test equipment at the Nagasaki District Research & Innovation Center in Nagasaki, the company said. Utilizing a combustion test furnace with a fuel consumption of 0.5 tons per hour (t/h), MHI says it conducted a single-fuel burner test using an ammonia burner, and a high-ratio ammonia co-firing test with coal. In both cases, MHI said the tests confirmed stable combustion, reduced nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions compared to coal firing, and complete combustion of the ammonia.

Mitsubishi Power is developing its H-25 gas turbine that would be fueled 100 percent by ammonia, and the company hopes to bring it to commercialization by 2025.

In addition to its role as an energy carrier allowing transport and storage of hydrogen energy at low cost, ammonia can be used directly as a fuel for thermal power generation, and because it does not emit CO2 during combustion, is expected to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

A challenge needing to be addressed with direct combustion of ammonia is the production of nitrogen oxide (NOx) caused by oxidation resulting from the combustion of the nitrogen component of the fuel. Mitsubishi Power said it is aiming to resolve this issue through the commercialization of a gas turbine system that combines selective catalytic reduction with a newly developed combustor that reduces NOx emissions, for installation in the Company’s H-25 Series gas turbines.

As a next step, MHI plans to conduct a combustion test using an actual-sized burner in a larger 4t/h combustion test furnace. Based on these results, MHI will then take steps for the application of the burner it has developed for thermal power plants in Japan and overseas.

Since fiscal 2021, MHI has been pursuing “development and demonstration of high-ratio ammonia co-firing technology in coal-fired boilers” as part of the Fuel Ammonia Supply Chain Establishment project conducted by the Green Innovation Fund Project of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). This combustion test is part of that project, and by fiscal 2024, MHI says it plans to develop burners capable of ammonia single-fuel firing for both circular firing and opposed firing type burners.

The Nagasaki District Research & Innovation Center, where the test was conducted, is located in Nagasaki Carbon Neutral Park, MHI Group’s development base for energy decarbonization technologies that commenced operations in August this year. With the success of this combustion test, MHI is accelerating the development of related technologies for practical application in thermal power generation boilers in Japan and overseas.

Last year, Mitsubishi announced plans to research ammonia-based power generation in Indonesia and Singapore.

Mitsubishi Power and Indonesia’s Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) plan to research firing ammonia in gas turbines under a new agreement. The collaboration between Mitsubishi Power and ITB stems from a 2020 agreement to study next-generation clean energy solutions at power plants. Research and development of ammonia-fired power generation will be conducted at ITB facilities.

Mitsubishi Power said the aims of the partnership include promoting technology development between Japan and Indonesia and advancing the adoption of clean energies in Indonesia. It also aims to reduce the country’s use of coal.

In a separate collaborative agreement with Keppel Energy, Mitsubishi Power plans to explore the possibility of a 100% ammonia-fired gas turbine on Jurong Island, Singapore. This follows an announcement in August 2022 that Keppel would develop Singapore’s first hydrogen-ready power plant in the Sakra sector of the island, constructed by a consortium including Mitsubishi Power and Jurong Engineering.

Barry 8 officially began operating Nov. 1, following final testing. The combined-cycle unit features Mitsubishi Power equipment and can generate up to 727 MW.

Construction of Barry 8 started in 2021 following approval by state regulators. Alabama Power said construction teams devoted more than two million work hours to Barry 8.

Combined with the other generating units at the site, Plant Barry’s total generating capacity is now 3,246 MW, making it the largest plant in Alabama Power’s system.

Plant Barry was at the center of a recent waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) giving Southern Company the ability to perform drone inspections at the utility’s power plants and other facilities without the need for someone onsite.

For a year, Southern Co. used Plant Barry in Alabama as the test site to capture data and prove to the FAA this technology could be used safely. The utility called the latest development a “huge step” in advancing autonomous and remote operations at scale.

Hydaptive will use renewable energy through electrolysis to produce green hydrogen by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. The Hydaptive package is meant to provide a near-instantaneous power balancing resource that enhances the ability of a simple cycle or combined-cycle power plant to ramp output up and down to provide grid-balancing services.

The package integrates a hydrogen and natural gas-fueled gas turbine power plant with electrolysis to produce green hydrogen using 100% renewable power and onsite storage of green hydrogen. Hydaptive is available for new gas turbine power plants or as a retrofit to existing plants to improve flexibility and extend asset life.

Mitsubishi Power’s delivery of equipment is being coordinated with the onsite construction schedule to optimize the overall project timeline, the company said. Once completed, the company says the system at ACES Delta Hub will nearly double the annual production levels of clean hydrogen worldwide.

ACES Delta Hub

The ACES Delta Hub, a joint project led by Mitsubishi Power Americas and Chevron U.S.A. Inc.’s New Energies Company (formerly Magnum Development), is a large-scale clean hydrogen facility designed to produce, store, and deliver green hydrogen to the western U.S.

The hub will initially be capable of converting 220 MW of renewable energy into almost 100 metric tons per day of green hydrogen, which will then be stored in two massive salt caverns, having a storage capacity of more than 300 GWh of dispatchable clean energy. These salt caverns are located within the only major geologic salt dome formation in the western U.S.

A pipeline from the ACES Delta Hub will supply hydrogen to the nearby Intermountain Power Agency’s “IPP Renewed” power plant project to achieve seasonal, dispatchable renewable energy storage utilizing two Mitsubishi Power J-series gas turbines. The turbines will use up to 30 percent hydrogen blended with natural gas at start-up, with a goal of transitioning up to 100 percent hydrogen by 2045 or sooner. Together, the turbines have a capacity of 840 MW of electricity generation.

Notably, the ACES Delta Hub was not included in $7 billion in federal hydrogen hub funding from the DOE. Funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the seven H2Hubs are located around the U.S. and aim to jumpstart a national network of clean hydrogen producers, consumers and connective infrastructure. Each hub will include clean hydrogen production, storage, delivery and end-use components.

The 693 MW combined-cycle plant is equipped with Mitsubishi Power’s M501JAC air-cooled gas turbine.

LEC also includes a steam turbine and a Vogt three pressure reheat heat recovery steam generator in a 1 x 1 multi-shaft configuration.

Mitsubishi Power will also provide service and maintenance for the turbine under a long-term service agreement.

The LEC, which began construction in 2020, replaces the now-retired 556 MW Charles R. Lowman coal-fired power plant. The retired plant came online in 1969.

PowerSouth’s members are located in Alabama and Northwest Florida. Other natural gas-fired assets owned by the co-op include the McIntosh Plant (McIntosh, Alabama), McWilliams and Vann (both in Gantt, Alabama).

The company says Takasago Hydrogen Park is the world’s first integrated hydrogen validation facility.

Electrolysis hydrogen production recently began operation at the park, and Mitsubishi Power aims validate hydrogen co-firing and 100% hydrogen firing of gas turbines there.

Takasago Hydrogen Park is divided into sections: hydrogen production, storage and utilization. The production area features an alkaline electrolyzer with a record-breaking hydrogen production capacity of 1,100Nm3/h and storage facilities with a total capacity of 39,000 Nm3.

Mitsubishi Power said the hydrogen produced at the park will be used to validate 30% hydrogen co-firing at T-Point 2 combined-cycle power plant validation facility, which includes a grid-connected JAC gas turbine. The 30% co-firing validation is expected to be finished by the end of the year, the company said.

Validation of 100% hydrogen firing in a smaller H-25 gas turbine is planned for 2024.

Mitsubishi Power is also developing advanced hydrogen production technologies, including solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC), anion exchange membrane (AEM) water electrolyzers and a CO2-free turquoise-hydrogen production method using methane pyrolysis. The company intends to validate these technologies through testing at the Takasago Hydrogen Park.

The IPP Renewed Project includes an 840 MW facility that would replace coal-fired power at the site. The CCGT plant is intended to be powered by 30 percent hydrogen at start-up in 2025, with a goal to be eventually be fueled by 100 percent hydrogen by 2045.

The facility will be owned by Intermountain Power Agency (IPA) and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). It will provide the power to the IPA subscribers it serves, including Los Angeles and municipalities in other parts of California and Utah.

The power plant is connected to the Los Angeles power grid by an existing high voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission line, which will be modernized as part of the project.

Hydrogen will be produced and stored adjacent to the plant at the Advanced Clean Energy Storage Hub being developed by Mitsubishi Power and Magnum Development. The ACES Delta hub will use electrolyzers to produce hydrogen, which will be stored in two underground salt caverns, each the size of the Empire State Building capable of holding 150,000 MWh of energy.

The two M501JAC gas turbines delivered this month were manufactured at Mitsubishi Power’s facility in Takasago, Japan and are awaiting installation and on-site testing.

Mitsubishi Power will provide service and maintenance for the gas turbines under a 20-year long-term service agreement. TIC – The Industrial Company, a subsidiary of Kiewit, is the EPC contractor for the project.

Portocem Geração de Energia S.A. was the biggest winner of the first power capacity reserve auction in Brazil, held in December 2021, to contract power for the National Interconnected System (SIN). With 1.6 GW of capacity, UTE Portocem will be one of the largest power plants ever built in Latin America.

Under the agreement, Mitsubishi Power will supply four M501JAC gas turbines which will operate in simple cycle at UTE Portocem. UTE Portocem represents Mitsubishi Power’s third advanced class gas turbine project in Brazil over the past six years.

Engineering company CONSAG will supply the balance of plant (BoP), utilities, civil works, assembly, and commissioning of the plant as well as the implementation of transmission lines and substations supplying the BoP.

The project is designed to balance the intermittent energy coming from renewable sources on Brazil’s national grid. The start of construction was marked with a groundbreaking ceremony on May 5th, 2023.

UTE Portocem will be constructed in the Pecém Industrial and Port Complex, located in the metropolitan region of Fortaleza.

A 6 km transmission line will connect the plant to the National Interconnected System (SIN) through the Pecém 2 substation. A Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) will be chartered by Portocem and permanently moored within the basin of the Port of Pecém.

The development is being designed to have power generation capacity readily available to dispatch at times when the electrical system needs extra reinforcement to meet demand peaks, according to dispatch decisions by the National System Operator (ONS).

Through the joint development agreement, the companies will work together to identify and develop long-term projects in North America to help achieve net-zero goals.

Mitsubishi Power will provide engineering, design, project development support services, equipment supply, and long-term operational services for electric power generation and storage systems. This includes equipment supply for hydrogen-capable gas turbines, production and storage systems.

Warwick Carbon Solutions will provide government regulatory and industry knowledge, particularly for developing carbon capture and storage (CCUS) projects.