Aleš Mrvar, the Vienna-based project manager at Siemens Energy, expects no problems at all, but looks forward to important lessons on how best to implement and run a blended power plant. “We are excited to see how everything will work out in practice. So far, we have only been able to conduct such large trials in the lab,” says Mrvar.
He also emphasizes that the current goal of burning 15 volume percent hydrogen is not the limit of what is possible – not by far. “With smaller gas turbines, we will operate with up to 100 percent hydrogen already in 2023,” says Mrvar. “For larger power plants, however, also due to the lack of a hydrogen infrastructure and sufficient quantities of hydrogen, we have to increase the hydrogen share step by step.” That is exactly what will happen close to the Danube, and potentially in many more power plants. More than 115 Siemens Energy 4000F turbines – the same model as the one installed in Donaustadt – are in use across Europe.