The Phoenix (Performance Hydrogen Engine for Industrial and X) project, which is funded with almost €5 million ($5.4 million) by the German government, is aimed to generate the same electrical and thermal energy as currently available through natural gas CHP units in the higher power range of up to 2.5 MW.

When fueled by green hydrogen, this next-generation stationary energy plant, expected to be a first of its kind, should be able to run in a completely carbon-neutral manner.

“We are convinced that combustion engines will remain an essential part of the provision of a reliable energy supply during the energy transition,” said Dr Jörg Stratmann, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power Systems.

“We are making them climate-friendly with sustainable fuels. That’s why we at Rolls-Royce are investing in the development of next-generation hydrogen engines.”

The Phoenix project is being undertaken by a consortium including the sustainable mobile propulsion systems group at the Technical University of Munich, MAHLE Konzern, Fuchs Lubricants Germany GmbH, the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and Robert Bosch AG.

The joint project is scheduled to run for three years to develop a technology concept that is sufficiently mature for use in a complete prototype engine.

Rolls-Royce already has developed a gas-powered combustion mtu engine which can use hydrogen as a fuel, but the Phoenix project will develop the technology for an even more efficient next generation hydrogen engine.

New developments from the partners include the injection system, the piston group and the ignition system, as well as a completely new lubricant.

Rolls-Royce reports that the German government as part of its power plant strategy, which includes the expansion of renewable energies, has decided in favor of building more gas-fired power plants to compensate for the variability of renewable resources – in particular, smaller, decentralized gas engine plants that can flexibly compensate for the fluctuating feed-in of wind and solar power to the grid, which varies depending upon weather conditions.

To reduce CO2 emissions, biogas gensets and, in some cases, the first gas engines converted for hydrogen are currently being used. But as soon as the availability of green hydrogen is ensured on a large scale, the technology of the hydrogen cogeneration plants promoted in the Phoenix project should be ready for use.

Originally published by Power Engineering International.

The tumultuous events impacting the energy sector over the past year have highlighted the benefits of nuclear technology, according to Crawforth. This has accelerated the development of progressive nuclear technologies, in turn, causing a new wave of nuclear deployment across Europe.

And this new wave is largely dominated by small modular reactors or SMRs.

Unlike large nuclear which is often plagued by cost overruns and delays, SMRs can deliver the energy transition affordably and reliably.

It’s one part of the global renaissance of different nuclear technologies, such as fusion and advanced modular reactors, on the generation horizon.

A Level-1 trauma center in Staten Island, New York is adding a natural gas-fueled onsite cogeneration plant so the hospital can produce its own power.

Rolls-Royce is providing two combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) trigeneration units for Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC). The system is expected to provide the hospital’s daily power needs, while generating steam for hot water, heating and air conditioning.

The project will begin powering the hospital in Fall 2022, hospital officials said.

Rated at 1.5 MW each, the CCHP units are to be housed in a former laundry facility adjacent to the hospital. The project is being managed by developer Innovative Energy Strategies (IES) and is part of RUMC’s multi-million dollar expansion.

While RUMC will remain connected to the grid, the cogeneration plant will allow it to become self-sufficient, especially during emergency situations. The hospital has recognized the need for an alternative power supply system following outages caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

“Given that RUMC is the only hospital on Staten Island not in a flood zone, the ability to maximize hospital resilience by being energy self-sufficient was of major importance,” an RUMC spokesperson said.

Rolls-Royce Group, energy investor BNF Resources UK Limited and Exelon Generation Limited will invest £195 million ($265 million) over a period of about three years. This funding will enable the business to secure grant funding of £210 million ($285 million) from UK Research and Innovation funding.

The business will now proceed with a range of parallel delivery activities, including entry to the UK Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process and identifying sites for the factories which will manufacture the modules.

Discussions will continue with the UK Government on identifying the delivery models that will enable long-term investment and Rolls-Royce SMR will continue engaging with export customers who need this technology.

Warren East, Rolls-Royce CEO adds: “With the Rolls-Royce SMR technology, we have developed a clean energy solution which can deliver cost-competitive and scalable net-zero power for multiple applications from grid and industrial electricity production to hydrogen and synthetic fuel manufacturing.”

Tom Samson, CEO, Rolls-Royce SMR, added: “Rolls-Royce SMR has been established to deliver a low cost, deployable, scalable and investable program of new nuclear power plants…

“Investors see a tremendous opportunity to decarbonize the UK through stable baseload nuclear power, in addition to fulfilling a vital export need as countries identify nuclear as an opportunity to decarbonize.”

Read more: The role of small modular nuclear reactors in meeting climate goals

Rolls-Royce SMR nuclear technology includes a unique factory-made module manufacturing and on-site assembly system. Nine-tenths of an individual Rolls-Royce SMR power plant will be built or assembled in factory conditions and around 80% could be delivered via the UK supply chain.

A single Rolls-Royce SMR power station will occupy the footprint of two football pitches and power approximately one million homes.

It can support both on-grid electricity and a range of off-grid clean energy solutions, enabling the decarbonization of industrial processes and the production of clean fuels, such as sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and green hydrogen.

Ralph Hunter, Chief Operating Officer of Exelon Nuclear Partners and Vice President of Exelon Generation commented: “We believe that small modular reactors could become a crucial part of the world’s clean energy mix and we are confident that, as an operational partner, we can help develop, deploy and operate a fleet of world-class SMRs.”