DYNA JOURNAL ENGINEERING

The “Jupiter I” turbine, developed by the Mingyang Group, has become the first unit of its kind able to run continuously with pure hydrogen as its only fuel, cementing China’s position as a technological benchmark in zero-carbon power generation. The unit is installed in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and is part of a national hydrogen energy demonstration project focused on integrating large-scale green hydrogen production, storage and power generation.

According to Mingyang, Jupiter I is currently the world’s largest single-unit pure hydrogen power generator, designed to take hydrogen from storage tanks and convert it back into electricity whenever the grid needs it. The system is supplied with hydrogen produced from renewable sources, mainly wind and solar farms, through water electrolysis, which allows surplus power to be stored in chemical form for hours or even days.

The company states that, compared with a coal or gas plant of similar capacity, the new turbine can avoid more than 200,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year, directly contributing to China’s decarbonization targets. In combined-cycle operation, Jupiter I can generate about 48,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per hour, enough to meet the daily power consumption of around 5,500 households, reinforcing its role as a flexible backup solution for a grid increasingly dominated by renewables.

Chinese authorities view this project as a key step toward developing the entire hydrogen value chain, from production to industrial and power uses, especially in regions with strong wind and solar resources but far from major demand centers. The aim is for this experience to lay the groundwork to replicate the “electricity–hydrogen–electricity” model elsewhere in the country and speed up the shift to a low-carbon power system.