Concluded last month (October 2022), Wärtsilä today (November 8) revealed the tests carried out at the AJ Mihm plant saw an unmodified 18MW Wärtsilä 50SG engine continue to supply power to the grid, while running on a hydrogen blend.

According to the company this is the ‘largest’ internal combustion engine ever to operate continuously on a hydrogen blend.

The trial, in partnership with WEC Energy Groupe, the Electric Power Research Insititue (EPRI), and Burns & McDonnell was announced in May this year (2022).

Read more: Michigan, US power plant to trial hydrogen fuel blend

H2 View understands Wärtsilä is currently carrying out engine tests with 100% hydrogen fuel at its engine lab in Vaasa, Finland, with hopes of seeing an engine and power plant concept operating on pure hydrogen available by 2025.

Commenting on the Michigan success, Kai Janhunen, Vice-President, Engine Power Plants at Wärtsilä Energy, said “While we continue to work on making pure hydrogen fuel a viable option, I believe that this testing project reinforces Wärtsilä’s leading position in the development of technology using sustainable fuels.

“The results have been outstanding, and no technical modifications whatsoever were needed to be made to the Wärtsilä 50SG engine. This once again provides concrete evidence of the fuel flexibility and versatility of Wärtsilä’s engine technology. Decarbonisation is a central issue for today’s global energy sector, and these tests move us a little closer to reaching it.”

Gale Klappa, Executive Chairman of WEC Energy Group added, “We’re very pleased to take a leading role exploring the potential of this technology as we focus on providing customers with affordable, reliable, and clean energy.

“As we bring more renewable energy online, we must ensure that we can keep the lights on when the sun is not shining, and the wind is not blowing. The results of this project are a strong indicator that these dispatchable units can run on very low- and no-carbon fuels.”