Uniper partners with GE to decarbonise gas plants in Europe

They have signed an agreement to explore, assess and develop technology options and produce a detailed decarbonisation roadmap by early 2021

German utility Uniper has announced plans to decarbonise its gas-fired power plants and natural gas storage facilities in Europe in collaboration with General Electric (GE).

They have signed an agreement to explore, assess and develop technology options and produce a detailed decarbonisation roadmap by early 2021.

The roadmap will develop an assessment of potential upgrades and research and development programmes needed to drive decarbonisation, including increasing the use of hydrogen in GE gas turbines and compressors in Uniper’s power plants and gas storage facilities across Europe.

The project will support Uniper’s goal of achieving climate neutrality in its European generation business by 2035.

Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO of Uniper said: “This agreement with the US manufacturer GE is another proof of our commitment to move ahead with the decarbonisation of our power generation and storage facilities. In a few years, Uniper’s European fleet will consist mainly of climate-friendly gas-fired power plants and CO2-free hydropower.

“From now on, our investments will focus primarily on the further decarbonisation of the gas assets which could include post-combustion carbon capture, utilisation and sequestration (CCUS) as well as blue or green hydrogen. And here, clean hydrogen will – as far as it is possible and sensible – replace the fossil components of the gas plants. If we also succeed in using our gas storage facilities to a large extent for hydrogen, we will be closer to a solution to the core problem of the European energy transformation: the lack of storage capacity for fluctuating renewable energies on an industrial scale.”

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