Member Article

First order for revolutionary generator system

Clarke Energy, based in Knowsley, has secured its first order for a revolutionary technology that creates electricity from waste heat.

Agri-g,en a developer of anaerobic digestion plants, has signed an order with the firm to supply the system to its Rendlesham anaerobic digester in Ipswich.

It has ordered two Jenbacher GE Clean Cycle generator units from Clarke Energy, which specialises in providing gas engines for low-carbon and renewable energy plants.

Earlier this year, the firm supplied a biogas engine at Agri-gen’s plant in Ipswich. This facility uses crops such as root vegetables to produce biogas, a source of renewable energy. It is used to provide sustainable power to the surrounding area.

Under current working conditions, the units are expected to generate in excess of £160,000 per year for the plant just from waste heat and in addition to the revenues from the original biogas engine.

Graham Thorne from Agri-Gen said: “The electrical efficiency of our Jenbacher biogas engine is market-leading. However, we also recognised the potential for the utilisation of the waste heat to generate additional electricity.

“We selected Clarke Energy to supply us with GE’s Clean Cycle ORC technology to boost the plant’s performance further and deliver one of the most electrically efficient biogas facilities in the UK.”

Haydn Rees, MD of Clarke Energy, said: “The use of ORC technology has significant benefits for our customers. Surplus heat from the CHP engine can be converted into additional electricity, generating additional revenues for the biogas plant”.

Clarke Energy had a turnover of more than £207m last year.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .