Renewable Hydrogen Requirements and Impacts for Network Balancing: A Queensland Cae Study

Hydrogen is the gas of the moment: an abundant element that can be created using renewable energy, transported in gaseous or liquid form, and offering the ability to provide energy with only water vapour as an emission. Hydrogen can also be used in a fuel blend in electricity generation gas turbines providing a low carbon option for providing the peak electricity to cover high demand and firming.
While the electricity grid is itself transforming to decarbonising, hard-to-abate industries such as cement and bauxite refineries are slower to reduce emissions, constrained by their high temperature process requirements. Hydrogen offers a solution allowing onsite production, process heat, with waste heat recovery supporting blended gas turbine generation for onsite electricity supply.
This article builds on decarbonisation pathway simulation results from an ANEM model of the electricity grid identifying the amount of peak demand energy required from gas turbines. The research then examines the quantity, flow rate, storage requirements and emissions reduction if this peak generation were supplied by open cycle hydrogen capable gas turbines.