Hydrogen added to Snowy Hydro Hunter gas plant

A contract signed with Mitubishi will deliver two 330-megawatt open cycle gas turbines once the Snowy Hydro Hunter plant starts up in late 2023.

A contract signed with Mitubishi will deliver two 330-megawatt open cycle gas turbines with the capability to run on 15 per cent hydrogen once the plant starts up in late 2023. Picture: Mitsubishi Power

Snowy Hydro’s Hunter Valley gas plant in NSW’s Kurri Kurri will be able to run on 15 per cent hydrogen after signing a supply deal with Mitsubishi Power, with the power station positioning itself as a key project for the transition from coal to renewables.

The $610m gas “peaker” facility is designed to run during high demand and when solar and wind supplies aren’t available, filling a gap created by the planned closure of AGL Energy’s Liddell coal plant in the summer of 2022-23.

A contract signed with Mitubishi will deliver two 330-megawatt open cycle gas turbines with the capability to run on 15 per cent hydrogen once the plant starts up in late 2023.

Snowy said a combination of supply options would be needed to back up intermittent renewables as Australia cuts its reliance on coal-fired power in the next two decades.

“The Hunter Power Project will play a critical role in supplementing Snowy’s generation portfolio with dispatchable capacity when the needs of electricity consumers are highest,” Snowy chief executive Paul Broad said.

“Underpinning greater investment in renewables, the Hunter Power Project will facilitate an estimated 1.5 to 2 gigawatts of new generation from within the Snowy portfolio. That’s equivalent to 160,000 household solar installations.”

Snowy Hydro CEO Paul Broad at the Kurri Kurri site. Picture: Adam Yip

Major gas plants proposed for the nation’s power grid are increasingly looking to incorporate hydrogen ready turbines. EnergyAustralia’s Tallawarra B power station aims to be Australia’s first net zero emissions hydrogen and gas capable power plant by the 2023-24 summer, while billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Squadron Energy is planning a 650MW gas and hydro power station at NSW’s Port Kembla.

A consortium of major domestic and international energy players have outlined a $2bn plan to fast-track Australia’s first hydrogen valley in the heart of the nation’s biggest coal province, using renewable energy to build a major export industry and secure jobs in the Hunter Valley.

A second stage of the hydrogen plan running from 2022 through 2026 would develop a pipeline from Liddell to Newcastle and incorporate a hydrogen gas power station, with both the federal government’s Snowy Hydro project at Kurri Kurri or AGL’s Newcastle plant among options included as part of a clean energy precinct.

Originally published as Hydrogen added to Snowy Hydro Hunter gas plant