IN Brief:
- RWE and Kawasaki have commissioned a 34MW hydrogen-compatible turbine at Lingen in Germany.
- The turbine can use natural gas, hydrogen, or a combination, with testing planned up to 100% hydrogen.
- A several-month trial will examine operating modes and loads relevant to flexible generation.
RWE and Kawasaki Heavy Industries have commissioned a 34MW hydrogen-compatible gas turbine at the Emsland power station in Lingen, Germany, beginning a programme of industrial-scale operating trials. The new machine can burn natural gas, hydrogen, or blends containing both fuels. The partners will test operation with hydrogen shares reaching 100% over the coming months, while examining how the equipment responds to different load conditions. The commissioning ceremony took place on 6 November, with the utility describing the installation as Europe’s largest fully hydrogen-compatible gas turbine.
The installation moves Kawasaki’s combustion technology from previous smaller-scale demonstrations into a 34MW machine intended to test flexible generation duties. Its rated electrical output is 34MW, although the statement does not provide separate performance curves for each proposed fuel blend. Kawasaki’s combustion technology has been tested at smaller scales before being applied at Lingen. The new programme will measure how the larger installation operates under conditions closer to those encountered at a commercial power station, particularly where generating output may need to change as electricity demand and renewable production vary.
Hydrogen for the tests comes from electrolysers at the adjoining GET H2 Nukleus project. These use electricity from renewable sources to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is then supplied to the gas turbine for reconversion into electricity. Locating production and generation together gives the test programme access to a defined fuel source without requiring the commissioning of a separate national hydrogen transmission network before trials can begin. RWE has not described the arrangement as a commercial closed-loop storage system with an established round-trip efficiency.
The combustion system must accommodate substantial differences between hydrogen and natural gas. Hydrogen has different flame-propagation and combustion characteristics, while its supply pressure, quality, and available flow also affect operation. The ability to adjust the blend provides flexibility for operators where hydrogen availability or cost varies. Demonstrating stable operation across a range of mixtures will therefore be part of establishing the technology’s practical operating envelope, alongside any assessment of emissions, maintenance, starting behaviour, and dynamic response supported by the trials.
RWE said the equipment will be examined under several operating modes and loads. That is particularly relevant to electricity systems with growing wind and solar generation, where flexible thermal plant may be asked to change output or run for limited periods when renewable production is low. A turbine’s nominal capacity does not establish its response speed, efficiency, minimum stable load, or maintenance requirements. Those operating characteristics need actual test data, and the companies have not yet published the full results of this programme.
Nikolaus Valerius, chief executive of RWE Generation, said the commissioning was an important stage towards larger hydrogen turbines. Kawasaki’s Motohiko Nishimura, president of its Energy Solution & Marine Engineering Company, described the ability to adjust the hydrogen and natural gas mixture from zero to 100% hydrogen. Those statements establish the intended operating range, but commissioning of the machine does not establish that every load point and fuel blend has already completed the planned field trials.
Fuel availability will shape the performance that can ultimately be expected from hydrogen-fired generation. A machine designed to use high hydrogen blends may still need natural gas when hydrogen production, storage, or supply is insufficient for the required generating period. Electrolysis consumes electricity and water, and reconversion in a gas turbine introduces another energy conversion step. Commercial deployment therefore requires compatible combustion equipment together with a fuel-supply strategy suited to expected operating hours and the wider electricity system.
RWE and Kawasaki will operate the Lingen unit for several months, using different fuel mixtures and load conditions to collect field data. Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) is supporting the cooperation. Measurements during the programme should provide evidence of the combustion system’s operating envelope and requirements for subsequent equipment development. The partners have established a 34MW test installation, while its performance under the complete planned range of conditions remains to be demonstrated in the trial.
RWE has separately referred to successful participation in German procurement for flexible power stations, but the 6 November account does not identify the Lingen machine as a contracted commercial capacity asset. Its immediate task is to validate the engineering behind adjustable hydrogen and natural gas firing at industrial scale. Evidence from high-hydrogen operation, changing output, and inspection of equipment after test runs will inform the next development decisions. The partners have not issued complete efficiency, emissions, or long-term maintenance results for the turbine, which remains in its field-trial phase.
