Hydrogen has been touted as the next green fuel to decarbonise the energy industry. As hydrogen technology continues to develop, INNIO is able to produce engines that work with 100% hydrogen and is looking to scale up production. This could provide a glimpse into the future. Jonathan Lee reports.
INNIO is one of the largest engine Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) that can make 100% hydrogen engines on an industrial scale with approximately 24,000 engines delivered globally. The company is targeting to make its entire portfolio hydrogen ready by 2025. Mr Dommermuth presented on how INNIO’s engines will possess high efficiency (up to 95%) and fuel flexibility with greater durability.
There has been a rising trend in Asia where power generation engines are 100% carbon-neutral, running on natural fuel like biogas and hydrogen. Amidst the rising natural gas prices, he recommended for countries to invest in local fuel and not rely on the fluctuating natural gas price.
Although there is a position trend from Asia, Mr Dommermuth cautioned that coal is still prevalent here, making up about 60% in the power generation mix. He called for the investment in coal infrastructure to stop in order to curb power generation from coal and emissions. Mr Dommermuth added that better grid stability coupled with flexible infrastructure are crucial solutions against this coal reliance. Moving to renewable energy, which is a fluctuating source in most cases, would also need to have dispatchable power, hydrogen or tri-generating solutions to deliver power on demand.
Mr Dommermuth also commented that Singapore is making good pace in its energy transition and that hydrogen will play a big part in Singapore’s journey to decarbonise. He cited Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong on announcing Singapore’s goal of supplying up to 50% of its power needs with hydrogen by 2050, imposing carbon tax, and working with countries in developing green hydrogen.
Being ready for hydrogen
On making INNIO’s fleet ready for hydrogen, Mr Dommermuth elaborated on how the company has validated the possibility of mixing hydrogen with natural gas in its engines at its headquarters in Jenbach, showing how such hydrogen-ready engines would mainly produce water and small amounts of nitrogen oxides. Mr Dommermuth also shared about the collaboration with companies such as Hyosung in South Korea to build 100% hydrogen plants.
“The energy transition is a marathon; it is not a sprint,” concluded Mr Dommermuth as he encouraged all to start the energy transition journey, not wait for policy changes. He called on the urgent installation of electrolysis capacities in areas where wind, solar, hydro and geothermal energies are available.
Q&A discussion transiting to hydrogen
Hydrogen is known to be a difficult fuel to transport. When asked about the challenges, Mr Dommermuth acknowledged that transporting liquid hydrogen is challenging. An alternative could be to explore ammonia instead. He added that handling hydrogen should not pose major technical issues, citing Germany's hydrogen pipelines that transport gaseous hydrogen.
When asked about his views on biogas, Mr Dommermuth said that there are many opportunities in Southeast Asia for making biogas. However, it would require a national company or policymaker to step in to support local biofuel makers to explore such opportunities and to make them lucrative.
On the cost of producing green fuel, Mr Dommermuth said that market forces could play a bigger role in shifting the supply and demand of green fuel to make them more affordable. Hydrocarbon should be more expensive to produce than hydrogen. However, consumers usually pay for the carbon taxes passed down from the hydrocarbon producers. There could be a need to adjust carbon trading mechanisms so that everyone is on equal footing in terms of carbon tax payments.
Mr Dommermuth concluded that there is potential in using existing technology to produce hydrogen. However, we should not wait until newer technology is developed. Instead, we should start using existing technology to help us in decarbonising energy now.
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