Wartsila technology says it has developed 100% Hydrogen engine to generate power
New Delhi, July 8: Wartsila technology group today said it has started validation of a new 100% hydrogen engine to power Spain’s national electricity grid in Bermeo, northern Spain, marking the world’s first demonstration of a large-scale 100% hydrogen engine.
The trial marks a major step forward in proving that engine technology can operate on 100% sustainable fuels such as hydrogen, building on Wärtsilä’s earlier launch of the world’s first large-scale 100% hydrogen-ready engine power plant and opening a clear pathway towards fully renewable power systems.
As renewable energy penetration increases, hydrogen-capable engine technologies can provide the flexible, dispatchable power needed to maintain grid stability while enabling greater integration of renewable energy at scale.
“The Wärtsilä 31H2 engine, part of the Wärtsilä 31 platform, one of the world’s most efficient multi-fuel 4-stroke engines, shows that hydrogen can move beyond theory into real-world energy infrastructure,” the company said in a statement here.
The Wärtsilä 31H2 engine is the world’s largest pure hydrogen engine, with performance currently being verified in Bermeo, it said.
Today, Wärtsilä’s engines can already operate on natural gas blended with up to 25 vol% hydrogen, a capability increasingly reflected in power generation tenders, including in India.
This was demonstrated in 2022, when Wärtsilä and WEC Energy Group ran an unmodified Wärtsilä 50SG engine on a 25 vol% hydrogen blend at the 55 MW A.J. Mihm power plant in Michigan, USA.
The Wärtsilä 31H2 engine builds on this foundation, marking the next step in the evolution towards a large-scale power plant running entirely on 100% hydrogen.
The Wärtsilä 31 based power plant is designed to support rapidly growing, energy-intensive industries – including data centres, manufacturing facilities and industry – with flexible, sustainable power generation, and off-grid environments.
“While the validation is being undertaken in Spain, the learnings from the demonstration will help advance Wärtsilä’s hydrogen roadmap globally, including in markets such as India, where renewable energy expansion and investments in green hydrogen are creating new opportunities for flexible, low-carbon power generation,” the company said. (BVI)
