Los Angeles Proposes Switch to Hydrogen at Four Gas-Fired Plants

By Christian Roselund

The United States’ second-largest public utility is considering switching four of its natural gas plants to hydrogen as it moves towards 100% renewable energy. In the latest version of its Strategic Long-Term Resource Plan, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has proposed retrofits to the four plants in the Long Angeles Basin to run on green hydrogen as a backup
power source.

The four plants in consideration – Harbor, Haynes, Scattergood and Valley – are a mixture of combined cycle and combustion turbines. The first three use cooling water from the Pacific Ocean and were slated to be shut down from 2024 through 2029, but LADWP has proposed to convert them to burn hydrogen instead.

The move is part of LADWP’s plan to comply with the city’s mandate to move to 100% zero-carbon electricity by 2035. This plan also includes building more power lines and purchasing power from wind and solar plants outside the Los Angeles Basin, as well as incentivizing rooftop solar and demand response and installing 333 megawatts of lithium-ion batteries within the Los
Angeles Basin.

LADWP has consistently noted that in addition to wind, solar, storage, and demand response, all of its scenarios include a requirement for firm, dispatchable power such as these hydrogen-powered plants would provide. In a presentation, the utility clarified that it intends to use these plants as backup power in the event of grid challenges, and cited the dangers posed by the loss of transmission lines bringing electricity into the basin during recent wildfires as a reason for the need for local power.

These will not be LADWP’s first experiences with hydrogen projects. The utility is planning to buy power from the Advanced Clean Energy Storage (ACES) project in Utah, which is on track to be one of the first utility-scale hydrogen-burning power plants in the United States. ACES has been approved for a $504 million loan guarantee through the U.S. Department of Energy, and project partners Mitsubishi Power Americas and Magnum Development plan to use on-site wind and solar to produce and store the hydrogen that the plant will burn.

S&P Global notes that Food and Water Watch has opposed the plans to convert gas-fired plants in the Los Angeles Basin to hydrogen, citing local air quality concerns.

News coverage: Los Angeles firms up plans for green hydrogen as backup power source (S&P Global)