Wärtsilä is to provide gensets that will run on a hydrogen and natural gas blend for Keppel Offshore & Marine’s (Keppel O&M) Floating Living Lab (FLL), a first-of-its-kind offshore floating testbed in Singapore.
The FLL project comprises a floating barge with LNG bunkering facilities for harbor craft and small vessels. It will also house an embedded power-generation system to power onboard operations, with excess electricity to be exported to the national grid or stored in the FLL’s energy storage systems (ESS).
The power-generation system will utilize two Wärtsilä 34SG engines running on natural gas/LNG with a combined output of 11.6MW. The engines can also operate on gas with up to 3% hydrogen, and with modifications can utilize up to 25% hydrogen. They are scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2021, and the power generation system is expected to be fully operational by the first quarter of 2022.
“As the maritime industry moves toward cleaner energy solutions, Keppel O&M is leveraging its expertise to optimize energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions for marine vessels by exploring different energy mixes such as blending hydrogen into LNG, and using its Floating Living Lab to testbed these solutions. This is in line with Keppel’s Vision 2030, which includes seizing opportunities in new energy such as hydrogen. We are looking for futureproof solutions, so engines with overall efficiency and capability for burning hydrogen were an important consideration in the award of this contract,” said Tan Leong Peng, MD (new builds), Keppel O&M.