Mitsubishi Power to help US utility El Paso cut emissions

Japan's Mitsubishi Power on October 20 said that it will help US utility El Paso Electric achieve its clean energy goals.

The companies have signed an agreement that extends El Paso’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions by replacing carbon-intensive assets with a combination of renewables, storage and power generation using hydrogen to meet the growing demand for clean, affordable and reliable electricity, Mitsubishi Power said.

The agreement will develop strategies and alternatives to attain an 80% carbon-free resource mix by 2035 and develop a roadmap to achieve a 100% carbon-free energy mix to meet El Paso’s future customer needs by 2045.

The companies will focus on developing a hydrogen vision and roadmap for El Paso to generate carbon-free energy across its overall power generation fleet. They will also develop a strategy to convert El Paso’s Newman power station’s newest unit from being fuelled by 100% natural gas generation to a blend of up to 30% hydrogen, then to eventually being fueled by 100% hydrogen.

Mitsubishi and EL Paso will also work for the integration of hydrogen and carbon-free resources and evaluate future regional transportation, commercial and other industrial sector coupling opportunities to promote decarbonisation.

In January this year, El Paso selected Mitsubishi Power’s 228 MW Smart M501GAC enhanced response (SmartER) gas turbine. The gas turbine is also hydrogen capable for deeper decarbonisation in the future, Mitsubishi Power said.

El Paso is a regional electric utility providing generation, transmission, and distribution service to approximately 446,000 retail and wholesale customers in the Rio Grande valley in west Texas and southern New Mexico.