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Reducing Emissions in Utah and Beyond through an Innovative Blending Project
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The project, located in Delta, Utah, is the next step of ThermH2™, whose first phase focused on blending hydrogen in Dominion Energy Utah's Training Academy to test the compatibility of hydrogen with existing residential appliances and confirm existing research.Dominion Energy Utah reached a significant milestone last month, kicking off the next phase of its hydrogen blending project by introducing a 5% hydrogen and natural gas blend into a Utah community.
The next stage of ThermH2™ takes place in Delta, Utah. In the initial phase of the project, hydrogen was blended into Dominion Energy Utah's Training Academy to assess its compatibility with residential appliances and validate previous research findings. The tests found that a 5% hydrogen blend was safe and effective in reducing emissions from natural gas appliances. This Utah project to blend hydrogen with natural gas in a low-pressure system is the first among Dominion's LDCs and one of the nation's first to pursue blending in a live system.
The blending in Delta, which will continue for the next few years, will reinforce the Training Academy findings and serve approximately 1800 customers in the city and surrounding towns of Oasis, Hinkley, and Deseret. DEU anticipates an upgrade to green hydrogen created using an electrolyzer, will occur later this year.
Hydrogen is an emerging energy source that, when burned, produces only water vapor and heat, leading to fewer emissions and better air quality. It has enormous potential to reduce the environmental impact of daily life, containing the ability to generate clean electricity, heat homes and buildings, power manufacturing, and fuel transportation with few or zero emissions.
Mike Platt, Alyssa Wahlin, and Unsiat Zahra, engineers who are all part of the ThermH2™ project, have shared their excitement for the project's innovative nature.
“Dominion Energy is one of the few companies in the US that is taking this revolutionary step towards net zero emissions by safely blending up to 5% hydrogen to a community of approximately 1,800 customers in Utah,” Zahra said. “One of the more exciting components of this project is having an electrolyzer onsite that will utilize clean electricity to produce green hydrogen to ensure minimum carbon emissions. The decrease in carbon dioxide emissions will be equivalent to planting 5,000 trees annually.”
Delta, Utah hydrogen facility
The three have also commented on hydrogen's potential as an energy source and a decarbonization tool.
“Hydrogen is an extremely versatile and valuable fuel that could potentially be a large portion of our future green energy sources,” said Platt.
“Ultimately, the ability to blend hydrogen into natural gas gives us another tool to decarbonize the energy system,” Wahlin adds. “Hydrogen gives options to those industries while still providing low carbon benefits.”
Dominion Energy Utah's commitment to continue to serve customers reliably and reduce emissions for the benefit of customers, air quality, and the environment is evident through its investment in emerging technologies, such as the ThermH2™ project. Dominion Energy is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and has reduced methane emissions from gas operations by 38% since 2010.
“We are very excited for this project to finally be underway. It is the result of several years of dedication and effort by the employees here in Utah. Dominion Energy needs to lead the way in making natural gas a part of a sustainable energy future. I am very proud of the team's efforts and this project.” said Michael Gill, Director of Engineering.
To learn more about hydrogen, or the ThermH2™ project, visit dominionenergy.com.
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