Italian energy infrastructure company Snam has awarded U.S. energy technology company Baker Hughes a contract to provide three turbocompressors driven by NovaLT12 gas turbine technology, offering fuel flexibility of up to 10% hydrogen blend with natural gas, for a new gas compressor station in Sulmona, Italy.
According to Baker Hughes, this station is an integral part of Adriatic Line, a Snam pipeline project which entails the construction of a 425-kilometer-long, hydrogen-ready pipeline to allow the transport of additional energy supplies from Azerbaijan, Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean region to northern Europe.
The contract, which was awarded to Baker Hughes following a public tender, builds on a long-standing collaboration between the two companies, Baker Hughes said, adding that in 2020 the two parties were involved in the testing of the “world’s first ‘hybrid’ hydrogen turbine designed for a gas network, and the installation of a NovaLT™12 turbine at Snam’s Istrana, Italy, site in November 2022.”
“The adoption of Baker Hughes NovaLT™12 turbines, which provide the option to run on 100% natural gas or hydrogen blends up to 10%, represents a significant milestone in decarbonizing the Italian gas network infrastructure and aligns with Snam’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality on direct emissions by 2040,” Baker Hughes stated.
Ganesh Ramaswamy, Executive Vice President, Industrial & Energy Technology at Baker Hughes, commented: “This milestone in our long-standing collaboration with Snam demonstrates that the energy transition requires continuous partnership… Our work with customers and partners is part of our commitment to developing innovative technology solutions, such as the NovaLT™12, that enable the decarbonization of energy ecosystems and the creation of the hydrogen economy while continuing to support the need for an affordable and secure energy supply.”
To remind, in January 2024, Baker Hughes shared an update on some of its active hydrogen projects, including a new hydrogen testing facility in Florence, Italy, and the completed manufacturing and testing of its NovaLT16 hydrogen turbines for the Air Products Net-Zero Hydrogen Energy Complex in Edmonton, Canada.