New Hydrogen Engine from INNIO Ready for Operation

INNIO and HanseWerk have just reached a key milestone in their joint project focused on establishing a 1 MW class hydrogen cogeneration power plant in the center of Hamburg. The prototype for the new engine to be used in this pilot plant has successfully passed all test runs at INNIO's development test bench in Jenbach.

The Hamburg-Othmarschen project has taken a significant step forward: “This final approval stage proves that this ground-breaking new technology works,” says a delighted Carlos Lange, President and CEO of INNIO. “At our test bench we apply the highest standards one could demand of a new product. And our new engine – the first Jenbacher gas engine that can be operated with 100% natural gas and with variable hydrogen-gas mixes up to 100 percent hydrogen – has passed the test with flying colors.”

Thomas Baade, Technical Director of HanseWerk Natur GmbH, adds: “There is now nothing standing in the way of us forging ahead with our project. This means that we will convert the natural gas-powered cogeneration plant in the UCI cinema complex in Othmarschen to run on 100 percent hydrogen. By doing so, we want to demonstrate how, in the future, one can operate a cogeneration plant with green hydrogen, that is hydrogen generated from excess wind energy, and thus generate climate-friendly power and heat. Together, we are laying the groundwork for a greener, more secure, flexible and forward-looking energy future in Hamburg.”

A highly innovative project on the road to energy transition
The background to this flagship project is Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein striving to establish Northern Germany as the center of the country’s hydrogen technology. This involves not only driving forward the future use of hydrogen technology in cogeneration plants, but also providing a reliable supply of green hydrogen to customers across the power, heat and transportation sectors, which the City of Hamburg wants to achieve. Additionally, the project also involves simulating the admixture of hydrogen into the natural gas grid. The conversion of the existing cogeneration plant will take place in the fall of 2020. Similarly, to the Hamburg-Othmarschen cogeneration plant, other existing gas engine power plants could be converted to run on a hydrogen-gas mixture or on 100 percent hydrogen in the future.