STUDY, ANALYSIS, AND PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CO-FIRING LNG WITH HYDROGEN FOR A TYPICAL 1500MW LNG-FIRED THERMAL POWER PLANT IN VIETNAM

Abstract

At the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), Vietnam committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Accordingly, Decision No. 500/QD oriented that by 2050, LNG-fuelled plants will gradually switch to using hydrogen, with a total capacity of 25,400 MW, producing 129.6-136.7 billion kWh, specifically: 7,030 MW of domestic gas power plants will switch to running entirely on hydrogen; 4,500-9,000 MW of LNG power plants will co-fire LNG and hydrogen; 16,400-20,900 MW of LNG power plant will switch to running entirely on hydrogen. Domestic gas/LNG and hydrogen co-firing technology is a potential path to decarbonize domestic gas/LNG power plants by replacing domestic gas/LNG fuel with a green hydrogen fuel source without CO2 emissions.

At the present, the cost of green hydrogen production is relatively high (about 6 - 8 USD/kg). However, according to forecasts of international organizations, the cost of green hydrogen production can be reduced to less than 3 USD/kg in 2030 and less than 2 USD/kg in 2050.

To evaluate the effectiveness of co-firing LNG with green hydrogen, in this article the authors have researched, analyzed and evaluated the preliminary effectiveness of co-firing LNG with hydrogen for a typical 1500 MW thermal power plant in Vietnam in some scenarios of green hydrogen price and mixing ratio. Research results show that in the case that the price of green hydrogen falls below 3 USD/kg and gas turbine technology capable of co-firing hydrogen is commercialized, the electricity price when co-firing hydrogen with the ratio up to 100% can be accepted by the power system.