Siemens Energy bets on ammonia, fuel flexibility to future-proof Asia’s power systems
The energy technology provider sets 2030 target for 100% hydrogen and ammonia-capable turbines
[FINSPANG, Sweden] Fuel flexibility, especially the ability to burn clean fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia directly, will be key to future-proofing Asia’s gas turbine fleet, said Siemens Energy senior executives, as the company zeroes in on next-generation combustion systems tailored for the region’s decarbonisation needs.
Thorbjorn Fors, group senior vice-president of Siemens Energy and its managing director for the Asia-Pacific, told The Business Times that the company is aiming to make turbines commercially capable of running fully on hydrogen by 2030. The same target has been set for ammonia.
Currently, Siemens Energy’s turbines can accommodate up to 75 per cent hydrogen in combustion. Burning ammonia directly – without the energy-intensive step of first cracking it into hydrogen – remains a technological challenge the company is actively tackling.
Fuel flexibility, Fors said, is both a way to support customers through their energy transition and a long-term business imperative for Siemens Energy.
“If we hang on to a technology that is using only natural gas, the risk for us as a technology provider, as a company, is that our intellectual property would be degraded over time,” he noted.
“(This means that) the long-term business progress might not be there. So we invest about a billion euros every year as a company (in research and development), and a significant portion of that goes into making sure that our gas turbines can manage a wide range of different fuels – in particular, green fuels,” he added.
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Multi fuel capability
During a visit at the company’s turbine manufacturing site in Finspang, Sweden, Sundar Chidambaram, vice-president of strategy and business operations for the Asia-Pacific at Siemens Energy, said that the company is “focusing heavily on ammonia”, especially in Asia.
While many economies in the region view hydrogen as a long-term clean fuel, ammonia – which is easier to store, transport and handle in the absence of region-wide pipeline networks – has emerged as a more practical near-term option for Asia.
Chidambaram said: “If you look at the sources of hydrogen, it’s where the renewable energy is concentrated, which is Australia and India in the region. And then if you look at where the demands are, it’s Asean, like Singapore, or Japan and South Korea.”
He added that building pipelines for the transportation of hydrogen to demand centres that are not landlocked is “very difficult”.
“Undersea pipelines are way too expensive. Leaks are very hard to detect. So in the long run, it just won’t make sense to transport hydrogen that way, and ammonia would be the most viable option,” he said.
Nonetheless, challenges of burning ammonia remain. These include emissions management of nitrogen oxides, low flammability and low combustion efficiency.
Chidambaram noted that different combustion technologies are available. “But adapting it for ammonia is where the R&D challenges lie.”
Siemens Energy’s R&D efforts also focus on other liquid fuel forms, such as methanol and ethanol.
“We are working on multiple fuels at the same time for two reasons. One is to bring them (the fuels) to market faster. The second reason is to ensure multi-fuel capability, so we know how to handle different fuels entering the gas turbine at different times,” added Chidambaram.
On the way to net-zero emissions
At the core of this push for alternative fuels is Finspang, Siemens Energy’s flagship gas turbine R&D and manufacturing hub for over a century.
The SGT-800 turbine, which can run on a mix of up to 75 per cent hydrogen and natural gas, is produced in the factory; about 200 units are in use in the Asia-Pacific. These turbines can achieve a 47 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, compared to those that run fully on natural gas.
When turbines burn 100 per cent hydrogen or ammonia, there would be no carbon element, and thus, zero carbon emission.
For a country heavily reliant on burning natural gas for its electricity, Singapore has been pushing for hydrogen to supply up to half of its power needs by 2050. But, if burning ammonia for power generation becomes commercially viable, it could be a viable path to net-zero emissions by 2050 for the small, import-dependent nation with limited renewable resources, Energy Market Authority (EMA) chief executive officer Puah Kok Keong said in a separate interview.
EMA is also actively exploring the viability of combusting ammonia directly in gas turbines.
In October, EMA and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore appointed a consortium led by Keppel to conduct studies advancing a proposal using ammonia for power generation and bunkering, under the National Hydrogen Strategy.
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