Due to the variability of renewable energiesrenewable energies like solar or wind, it is necessary to have more traditional power plants to compensate when production drops. The Finnish company Wärtsilä offers a solution by transforming its Wärtsilä 31 engine into generatorgenerator and converting it to hydrogen.
Please note, this is not a “small” engine like a carcar. The Wärtsilä 31 is designed for boats and measures 8.7 meters in length and 4.7 meters in height, with a maximum of 13,142 horsepower (9,800 kW). In addition, it is approved in Guinness des records as the world’s most efficient four-stroke diesel engine.
Presentation of the 100% hydrogen power plant using the Wärtsilä 31 engine. (In English, enable automatic translation of subtitles.) © Wärtsilä
A power plant that starts in 30 seconds
The manufacturer has just created its first power plant based on this engine. The Wärtsilä 31 is offered in two versions, one of which operates only onhydrogenhydrogen. While waiting to have a production ofgreen hydrogengreen hydrogen sufficient for this use, the firm offers a second version which works at gaz naturelgaz naturel, and which accepts a mixture containing up to 25% hydrogen. She is ” hydrogen ready “, in other words it offers the possibility of converting it to 100% hydrogen in the future. The advantage of a power plant based on this engine is that it is possible to start energy production in just 30 seconds in order to compensate for any drop in renewable energy production. With the pure hydrogen version, the plant does not emit carbon dioxidecarbon dioxide.
The version of « hydrogen ready » of the plant has already received certification from TÜV SÜD for the first phase out of a total of three phases. Wärtsilä plans to open orders in 2025, with the first deliveries in 2026.
