WinGD has been involved with marine engine innovation for some time, focusing on future fuels but also with refining engines running on existing fuels such as LNG as seen with its Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) technology.

Initially rolled out on the X-DF LNG dual-fuel engine series in June 2023, VCR brings notable efficiency benefits across fuel modes. “We see the biggest impact of VCR on LNG lean-burn engines,” explained Marcel Ott, head of strategic marketing at WinGD. “There’s a twofold performance improvement. Firstly, a clear fuel consumption benefit when operating in diesel mode—traditionally, Otto-cycle dual-fuel engines suffered a fuel consumption penalty in diesel mode due to compression ratio limitations. VCR allows us to achieve compression ratios similar to pure diesel engines, eliminating that penalty and achieving up to 5–8% fuel consumption reduction.”