Hydrogen has a role in decarbonization, but it is unlikely to be a major player in large-scale power generation. That was mainly the sentiment at POWERGEN International this year, in and out of the show’s Unlocking Hydrogen’s Power Potential track.
In particular, the discussion surrounding hydrogen’s role in power generation took a pivotal turn with the recent final ruling on the EPA’s New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for greenhouse gas emissions from conventional power plants.
In the proposed draft rule from May 2023, two pathways were outlined for achieving compliance with the new emissions standards: hydrogen co-firing and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). In the final rule, published in May of last year, hydrogen co-firing was omitted as the EPA favored CCS as the best system of emission reduction (BSER).
EPA did say “certain sources may elect to co-fire hydrogen for…
