The Intermountain Power Agency (IPA) awarded Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems a contract for two M501JAC power trains for the Intermountain Power Plant (IPP) in Delta, Utah.

The turbines are designed as part of a plan to transition from coal to natural gas and then to hydrogen fuel. The turbines will be commercially guaranteed capable of using a mix of 30% hydrogen and 70% natural gas fuel.

Mitsubishi Hitachi said this fuel mixture will cut carbon emissions by more than 75% compared to the retiring coal-fired technology. Between 2025 and 2045, the hydrogen capability will be increased to 100% hydrogen.

A Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems J-series turbine. Source: MHPSThe facility will be owned by IPA and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). It will provide 840 MW of reliable energy to the IPA purchasers 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 transmission line.

Environmental activists and neighborhood groups urged officials at a November 2019 meeting of the LADWP not to move forward with the IPP plan. During the meeting’s public comment period and in a petition signed by various civic groups and organizations, they argued that 100% renewable alternatives be considered instead. California has mandated that its electric power be sourced from 100% zero-carbon energy by 2045.

The developers argue that renewable energy and battery energy storage are not fully dispatchable resources, unlike a conventional power plant. Grid reliability depends, they said, on a combination of renewable energy and dispatchable generation.

The IPA order includes two 1-on-1 M501JAC power trains with gas turbines, steam turbines, heat recovery steam generators and auxiliary equipment. MHPS will service the plant under a 20-year service agreement.

The J Series gas turbines operate at a turbine inlet temperature of 1,600° C. The M501JAC series use air cooling for combustors instead of steam cooling.

The Intermountain Power Project began in 1973 when utility leaders from Utah and California met to explore interest in a joint action agency power project. Electricity generation began in 1986 and the project evolved to include a two-unit coal-fired generating station, two transmission systems, a microwave communication system and a railcar service center, all built as a joint undertaking by 35 utilities in Utah and California.

One of the only other 100% hydrogen plants in the world is operated by Enel in Venice, Italy. It produces hydrogen by reforming the methane in natural gas through a steam reaction, then removing excess carbon until pure hydrogen is left.