Japan to blend hydrogen in gas power plant

The first-of-its-kind test project will co-fire gas and hydrogen from later this year

Jera—a joint venture between Japanese utilities Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power—will receive a state grant for a pilot project to burn hydrogen at a natural gas-fired power plant in Japan. The project will initially blend low percentages of hydrogen with natural gas at an unnamed large-scale plant during a test phase from October 2021 to March 2025. “Jera aims to reduce its use of fossil fuels and to develop ‘zero-emission thermal power’ that emits no CO₂ during generation by using hydrogen and ammonia as fuel,” the firm says. Following the results of the pilot project, Jera hopes to construct hydrogen supply facilities at other natural gas-fired power plants, will the goal of