Wärtsilä launches world’s first large-scale 100 per cent hydrogen-ready engine power plant

• 13 days ago (2024-06-19)
• David Flin

Europe 1068 Gas engine plant 62 Hydrogen 56

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Wärtsilä has announced it has launched what is describes as the world’s first large-scale 100 per cent hydrogen-ready engine power plant.

The company said that the new engine power plant is a significant advance on existing technology, with can run on natural gas with up to 25 per cent hydrogen.

The engine concept is based on the Wärtsilä 31 engine platform. Wärtsilä said that the new engine will be available for orders in 2025, and for delivery from 2026. The engine will be able to synchronise with the grid within 30 seconds from start command.

Anders Lindberg, President of Wärtsilä Energy, said: “We will not meet global climate goals or fully decarbonise our power systems without flexible, zero-carbon power generation, which can quickly ramp up and down to support intermittent wind and solar. We must be realistic that natural gas will play a part in our power systems for years to come. Our fuel flexible engines can use natural gas today to provide flexibility and balancing, enabling renewable power to thrive. They can then be converted to run on hydrogen when it becomes readily available: future-proofing the journey to net zero.”