Solar to Green Hydrogen Demonstration Project Unveiled in Florida

In what is said to be the first demonstration project of its kind in the US, Duke Energy will create clean energy using an end-to-end system to produce, store, and combust 100% green hydrogen.

The technology, which was developed by Duke Energy, Sargent and Lundy and GE Vernova is to be deployed at Duke Energy’s DeBary power plant in Volusia County, Florida.

The existing 74.5MW DeBary solar plant will provide the clean energy that will feed two 1MW electrolyser units to create the green hydrogen, which will then be stored in nearby, reinforced containers.

At times of high energy demand, the stored green hydrogen will be delivered to a combustion turbine (CT) that will be upgraded using GE Vernova technology to run on a natural gas/hydrogen blend or up to 100% hydrogen.

Construction on the project is set to later this year, with the project estimated to become operational by the end of 2024.

Regis Repko, Senior Vice-President of Generation and Transmission Strategy for Duke Energy, said:  “Hydrogen has significant potential for decarbonisation across all sectors of the US economy.

“It is also capable of long-duration storage, which would help Duke Energy ensure grid reliability as we continue adding more renewable energy sources to our system.”