Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the global effort to decarbonize or to realize a low carbon society is gathering pace and there is a growing expectation for electrical power generation to reduce their CO 2 emission.

“What is the situation for power generation in Japan today?

Although we see a fast growing production of renewable energy from sun and wind, as of 2016, 83.6% of all energy is produced from thermal generation using fossil fuel (LNG, oil, coal, etc.)

Continuous efforts are being made to improve the efficiency of energy conversion from fuels. In the latest system gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) power generation, the efficiency has reached around 64%, halving the CO 2 production compared to conventional coal-fired power generation.

The plan is to continuously develop technology to improve the efficiency in thermal generation as well as expand the use of renewable energy. In addition, there is much expectation for the potential of hydrogen as the fuel for power generation as it can dramatically reduce CO 2 emission.

Muyama says, “In the move to reduce CO 2 emission in thermal energy generation in Japan, we would probably first deploy the method where we combine burning natural gas and hydrogen together and eventually shift to 100% hydrogen. By using the latest technology in thermal power generation, we must first stabilize the supply by converting fuel to hydrogen, which will evidently allow for CO 2 -free power generation.”

There are various application and possibilities in hydrogen, but one issue remains which is the cost. In the roadmap for “Basic Hydrogen Strategy,” the Japanese government has set a target of reducing the cost by a 1/3 by 2030 to 3$/kg (current station price: 10$/kg) when the international hydrogen supply chain is set up.

Muyama continued to say that “When you run a 400MW-class gas turbine combined-cycle power generation for a year, the hydrogen consumed will equal 2 million FCVs. The power generation will directly lead to massive hydrogen consumption, which will contribute to the cost reduction.” The use of hydrogen in power generation will reduce the cost of hydrogen production, which will potentially drive application in other areas.