(Yicai) July 3 -- GE Vernova said the initial phase of the first power plant in China to use the US energy equipment maker's hybrid natural gas-hydrogen fuel technology has gone operational.

The Integrated Energy Station Project, located in Huizhou's Daya Bay Petrochemical Zone in Guangdong province, is invested in and built by a project company under local power distributor Electric Power Development, GE Vernova announced yesterday. The project will include four generators, it added.

The plant will use a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas to generate electricity, with hydrogen making up 10 percent of the total, the Massachusetts-based firm said. This is a more environmentally friendly way to produce energy than using only natural gas.

The first phase, costing CNY3.8 billion (USD525 million), includes two power generators with an output of 665 megawatts each, supporting facilities, and an annual electricity production capacity of about 5 billion kilowatt hours, GE Vernova said. It will also provide industrial steam for a local chemicals park, with a heat supply of about 11.12 million gigajoules a year.

The project uses mixed-fuel generator equipment manufactured by GE Vernova's Chinese joint venture with Harbin Electric, which was set up in 2019. The 50:50 JV has a heavy-duty gas turbine manufacturing base and maintenance service center in Qinhuangdao, northern Hebei province.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kaidev