New gas engine
Late last November, field testing began on the world’s first large-scale (1 MW) gas engine that can be operated with either 100% natural gas, or with variable hydrogen-natural-gas mixtures up to 100% H2. The converted combined heat and power (CHP) plant in the Othmarschen area of Hamburg, Germany is part of the joint project of engine builder INNIO Jenbacher (Jenbach, Austria; www.innio.com), the energy service provider HanseWerk Natur GmbH.
The converted CHP plant provides 30 residential buildings, a sports center, a daycare center, and the Othmarschen Park leisure complex with a reliable supply of local heating that equates to 13,000 MWh every year. The electricity generated is fed to electric-vehicle charging points in Othmarschen’s multi-level parking garage as well as to the local power grid.
“Our joint project with HanseWerk Natur is a key milestone on the path toward climate neutrality, since green hydrogen is an important part of the solution,” says Carlos Lange, president and CEO of INNIO. “A particularly attractive aspect of our gas engine technology is that existing natural gas engines can also be converted to run on hydrogen. This offers operators security of investment, with the added benefit that the existing infrastructure can not only be utilized in the longer term, but also deployed in a way that is environmentally sound,” says Lange.