(Hamburg) – The district heating provider Hansewerk Natur GmbH is testing various H2 admixtures up to complete operation with hydrogen for “several weeks” in a combined heat and power plant with a megawatt output. In Hamburg-Othmarschen, the aim is to show “how a combined heat and power plant can be operated in the future with green hydrogen generated from excess wind energy and in this way provide climate-friendly electricity and heat,” explains Matthias Boxberger, CEO of Hansewerk.
Natural gas engine converted to hydrogen
Hansewerk Natur had converted a natural gas engine from the Austrian manufacturer Innio so that it can burn both natural gas and hydrogen. The company would like to gain insights from the pilot project “for the future operation of its more than 200 CHP engines in northern Germany.” To date, however, H2 additions of up to ten percent have only been possible in conventional natural gas networks.
In the future, the CHP plants in newly developed districts could run entirely on hydrogen, says Thomas Baade, technical managing director of Hansewerk Natur. This field test lays the foundation. With the converted combined heat and power plant in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld, Hansewerk Natur supplies 30 residential buildings, a sports center and a daycare center as well as the Othmarschen Park leisure center with local heat. According to the company, 13.000 megawatt hours of heat are provided here every year.
According to its own information, Hansewerk Natur GmbH is one of the largest heat providers in northern Germany. The company supplies more than 60.000 households. The provider currently operates its more than 1.000 heating systems and combined heat and power plants with natural gas, biogas or wood pellets.
Photos
Gerta Gerdes-Stolzke, Managing Director of Hansewerk Natur, Matthias Boxberger, Chairman of the Board of Hansewerk, Carlos Lange, President and CEO of Innio / © Hansewerk
