Hydrogen-natural gas blends of up to 25% hydrogen by volume have been confirmed to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 10% without significantly impacting engine performance.

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), WEC Energy Group, and Wärtsilä have successfully demonstrated 25% hydrogen by volume fuel blending in a Wärtsilä natural gas reciprocating internal combustion engine in a power plant in Michigan.

The demonstration project, which also included team members from Blue Engineering, Burns & McDonnell, Certarus, Lectrodryer, and Mostardi Platt, was conducted at WEC Energy Group’s 55 MW A.J. Mihm power plant using an unmodified Wärtsilä 50SG engine.

The project, conducted late last year, was the first hydrogen power test of a utility-scale, grid-connected reciprocating engine generator in the world. Engine manufacturers have conducted hydrogen-natural gas tests previously, but these tests have generally been conducted at small scale or in a test laboratory environment.