Hydrogen and Ammonia Power Generation and Building Value Chains

The Advanced Clean Energy Storage Project in the U.S. aims to store hydrogen produced by water electrolysis (carbon-free "green hydrogen") using renewable energy, in underground salt dome caverns in Utah and to utilize the hydrogen to generate power.

MHI Group is working with Magnum Development, an affiliate of Chevron and the co-developer and operator of the salt dome caverns, to develop one of the world’s largest green hydrogen hubs using 100% renewable energy. The storage facility will use a 220 MW water electrolysis unit to produce up to 100 tons of hydrogen per day.

The hydrogen produced and stored here will be supplied to an 840 MW-class GTCC power plant (Intermountain Power Plant Renewal Project), which is being constructed by Intermountain Power Agency, a power generating cooperative in Utah, with MHI M501JAC gas turbines at its core. The plant will start operation in 2025 with a 30vol% hydrogen mixture and is expected to operate with 100% hydrogen by 2045.

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (MHIMSB), a part of MHI Group, has recently completed a feasibility study in collaboration with U.S. startup Amogy on two ammonia solution concept designs: a carbon-free power train combining ammonia cracking and hydrogen fuel cell for ships and a hydrogen supply facility for supplying hydrogen as pilot fuel to ammonia fuel engines.

Amogy, a provider of mature, scalable, and efficient ammonia-to-power solutions, has developed an innovative ammonia-to-electrical power system that splits, or "cracks," liquid ammonia into its base elements of hydrogen and nitrogen, which then funnels the hydrogen into a fuel cell,generating high-performance power. In this feasibility study, MHIMSB and Amogy combined an onboard hydrogen production and utilization facility that utilizes Amogy's ammonia-cracking technology, with MHIMSB’s marine ammonia handling system MAmmoSS® (Mitsubishi Ammonia Supply and Safety System), to verify the feasibility of applying hydrogen extracted by ammonia-cracking technology to hydrogen fuel cells.

The two companies also verified the possibility of completely decarbonizing ammonia-fueled ships by converting the pilot oil required for ammonia fuel from conventional heavy oil and diesel to ammonia-cracked hydrogen.