Completion of the new facility is seen as a significant step forward in the direction of a shared technology roadmap drawn up under a 2024 joint development agreement “aiming to lead to a 100% ammonia capable combustion system by 2030,” said Kensuke Yamamoto, IHI Executive Officer, VP of Business Development Division and GM of Ammonia Value Chain Project Department. “IHI has developed a 100% ammonia firing gas turbine, IM270 (output 2MW)”, he noted, and aims to scale up the technology. “IHI’s combustor development role lies in this new flagship test facility, which will be a crucial hub for IHI’s and GE Vernova’s project.”
Starting in the summer of 2025, IHI says it plans to conduct “rigorous combustion tests” using full scale prototype combustors operating on 100% ammonia, aiming to develop a commercially viable gas turbine in about five years.
The collaboration between the two companies is described as including “synergies across IHI ammonia combustion expertise and GE Vernova global technical teams, and shared best practices developed at GE Vernova’s advanced combustion test facility in Greenville, South Carolina, USA.”
The IHI/GE Vernova test rig announcement “signals a shift from initial studies on the ammonia value chain to the practical implementation of technologies and engineering projects, aiming to decarbonise power generation by using ammonia as a fuel,” said Jeffrey Goldmeer, GE Vernova Senior Director, Technology Strategy. “This marks a new phase of collaboration between GE Vernova and IHI, with the goal of developing decarbonisation pathways that safeguard existing power generation investments.”
This article first appeared in Modern Power Systems magazine.
