EPRI, WEC and Wärtsilä successfully demonstrate 25 percent hydrogen fuel blending

Following up on a demonstration last fall, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) released a detailed report on its work with WEC Energy Group and Wärtsilä that successfully demonstrated 25 percent hydrogen by volume fuel blending in a reciprocating internal combustion engine (RICE) natural gas (NG) unit.

“EPRI is accelerating deployment of a full portfolio of clean-energy technologies to support a net-zero future,” Neva Espinoza, EPRI vice president of energy supply and low-carbon resources, said. “This demonstration project is significant in showing the potential of hydrogen blending in natural gas-fired engines. The learnings from this project will be shared with the energy industry to further progress toward deep decarbonization targets.”

The project was conducted on one of three 18.8-MWe Wärtsilä RICE units at Upper Michigan Energy Resource Corporation’s A.J. Mihm Generating Station. Partners’ goal was to showcase the successful use of a hydrogen-natural gas blend in a grid-connected, commercial-scale RICE unit. While lessons were learned for the requirements of blending hydrogen, it was also a success, allowing insights for other energy providers considering hydrogen blends to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The demonstration showed that hydrogen fuel blending could achieve total CO2 emissions of up to 10 percent.

“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,” said Gale Klappa, executive chairman of WEC Energy Group. “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.”

Other takeaways from the report included that the engine emissions that did emerge over the demonstration were well below the regulatory permit limits of the plant. Further, this was achieved without major efficiency impacts on operations or modifications needed to the RICE unit.

In addition to the three major partners on the project, team members also included staff from Blue Engineering, Burns & McDonnell, Certarus, Lectrodryer, and Mostardi Platt.