Thomassen Energy is to retrofit one of Uniper’s Rotterdam Capelle (RoCa) power plant’s gas turbines with its HyFlex LEC-III combustion system, which can be operated with a variable blend of hydrogen and natural gas fuel. The power plant, which is located in the Zuid-Holland province of The Netherlands, has a net electrical output of 264 MW. It has two Frame 5 gas turbines commissioned in 1983 (RoCa 1 & 2) and one Frame 9E (at RoCa 3, pictured), manufactured by Thomassen and commissioned in 1996.
Uniper is planning to switch the RoCa plant’s fuel source from Groningen natural gas to a high caloric gas supply in 2023. To support their aimed at gas-fired power decarbonisation objectives, Uniper anticipates blending the new gas supply with upwards of 30% H2. When installed into the RoCa3 Frame 9E turbine in early 2023, Thomassen’s HyFlex LEC-III™ combustion retrofit system, (developed jointly with their sister company PSM, based in the USA), should be capable of meeting this enhanced fuel flexibility requirement with ultra-low emissions when coupled with the delivery of the combustion AutoTune digital solution.
Peter Stuttaford, CEO of Thomassen Energy: “Our H2 fuel-flex retrofit solution selected by Uniper for RoCa3 has been operating successfully on three Frame 9E turbines in the Netherlands at another customer location since 2018 with hydrogen (up to 35% H2 demonstrated) fuel blending. Having retrofit options for the installed fleet of gas turbines today, which will ultimately allow operational flexibility with 0 – 100% H2, will provide clean, carbon free, firming capacity”.
