RRPS opens Power Generation Symposium 2024

Messe Augsburg hosted Power Generation Symposium 2024 (Photo: PPI)

Rolls-Royce Power Systems has opened its Power Generation Symposium 2024 with a message that upgrading existing machines and installations will deliver a quick win in reducing carbon emissions.

Under the banner headline ‘Today’s Solutions Generating a Greener Tomorrow’, keynote speaker Holger Lösch, deputy director general of the Executive Board at BDI (the German Industry Association) said that climate change is becoming increasingly visible and action needs to be taken.

“A 3ᵒC or a 4ᵒC [average temperature increase] world is not going to be a business paradise. Industry can and must play a decisive role in overcoming the overwhelming odds,” said Lösch

Continuing, he noted how Rolls-Royce has not remained in business since 1909 by staying the same. The company’s capability to transform as new technologies have come onstream has been key to continued success over the past century.

Holger Lösch, BDI, delivering keynote address (Photo: PPI)

But Lösch also said that he encounters people that say today’s solutions are too complex, too expensive. In response to those comments, he put forward: “What sense does it make to stop climbing on the way to the summit? We have to keep going – sometimes you have to start a project before you can see the finish line.”

As for the on-going energy transition, Lösch said that he believes that society as a whole will become more electrified, but it will not be a 100% electrified society, with a variety of different fuel types making up the power ecosystem.

Further, the industry and its customers have to move away from a German-centric view, with the goal of integrating all energy markets across Europe. This, he put forward, will allow sourcing of the necessary capital investment needed to support the transition. “If the trillions of euros needed for this are not available, we won’t reach the targets.”

He also noted that carbon removal (either through cuts or collection) needs to start on a large scale. He said that while come politicians prefer only those solutions which cut carbon at the source, Lösch said: “Decarbonisation is the target; there’s no bad decarbonising.”

New strategies and products

Taking over from Lösch , Tobias Ostermaier, president, business unit stationary at Rolls-Royce Power Systems, said the company now has more than 149,000 installations in 175 countries.

To achieve the greatest reductions over the short-term, he put forward that the best route would be to upgrade these existing sites with the latest technology.

“Install these solutions across a fleet that size, you will get a big impact,” he said, adding: “This is not the end of the internal combustion engine.”

With that in mind, Ostermaier said that a new engine is currently under development, with an anticipated launch date in 2028. This new engine will deliver 25% more power from the same footprint, while having the capability to use low-carbon sustainable fuels.

Ferdinand Neuwieser (centre), with Andreas Goertz (left) and Tobias Ostermaier (Photo: PPI)

This new engine technology will be made more efficient by the addition of new storage and control tech, said Andreas Goertz, president, business unit Mobile & Sustainable.

“Batteries will play a key role in storing renewable energy,” he said. Continuing, Goertz noted how battery storage systems can help customers to peak shave, reducing peak energy usage to achieve reduced annual energy costs.

To support this, Rolls-Royce Power Systems is set to introduce the new mtu EnergyPack QX for the 50 Hz microgrid market in 2025.

The company is also working on a variety of gas-powered energy solutions, including hydrogen engines and related storage systems. To underline the successful amalgamation of these developments into a single working solution, Ferdinand Neuwieser, CEO of TUV SUD Industrie, a systems certification group, presented Rolls-Royce Power Systems with an H2 Readiness of Gas Engine Power Plants Concept certificate.