Hydrogen engines next to the electrolyser

Christoph Börger, founder of the eSAF Alliance, sees a new market for hydrogen engines next to the electrolyser. In synthetic fuel plants, H2 gensets could keep controls, safety systems and cooling running during an outage. His case draws on the Waste2HyEngine project, completed by Fraunhofer UMSICHT with Fraunhofer IKTS, Heilbronn University and DEUTZ.

The Fraunhofer UMSICHT release, published by gwf-gas on 29 October 2026, gives the details: €3.3 million from the BMFTR, March 2024 to September 2026, with biogenic residues turned into hydrogen-rich gas mainly by pyrolysis. A converted four-cylinder DEUTZ diesel engine ran stably on 40% to 100% H2 by volume at pilot scale.

The result shows an engine that tolerates gas variation. Backup is the author's reading; the project targets combined heat and power at composting sites, sawmills and mills first.

If the backup premise fails, the engine still has a home in CHP fed by residue gas. For PtL plant designers, it is worth comparing early the cost of reserved hydrogen against batteries and conventional gensets.