COSPP Latest News

FuelCell Energy announces major European market moves

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:58:00 GMT

US clean energy firm FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq:FCEL) has announced that its German subsidiary, FuelCell Energy Solutions GmbH, is acquiring select assets from MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH, a subsidiary of Tognum AG.

The select assets include fuel cell component inventory and fuel cell manufacturing equipment of the former MTU Onsite Energy GmbH Fuel Cell Systems in Ottobrunn, Germany, which was merged with MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH.

Parties to the agreement also include MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH (MTU), and Fraunhofer IKTS (Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems).

Under the agreement, MTU will contribute fuel cell related intellectual property to Fraunhofer IKTS and Fraunhofer IKTS will become a minority owner in FuelCell Energy Solutions by June 30, 2012.

FuelCell Energy Solutions, a German company, will develop the market for stationary fuel cell power plants in Europe for commercial, industrial, and utility scale applications.

"This effort is a crucial part of FuelCell Energy's previously announced global growth strategy, leveraging prior relationships with MTU as well as an expanding relationship with Fraunhofer IKTS," said Chip Bottone, President and Chief Executive Officer for FuelCell Energy, Inc. "The agreement with MTU provides assets that will accelerate market development while optimizing current and future capital needs from FuelCell Energy so future investment will be predicated on order flow and a growing installed base."

Mr. Bottone continued, "This agreement and the ramp-up of FCES will enable cost effective large scale fuel cell technology to become available today, for commercial applications throughout Europe. We are building on the strength and leadership shown by the vision of the German government, and bringing the experience which comes from over 180 megawatts of commercial installations and order backlog worldwide."

The scope of FCES will include the continuation of research to further enhance carbonate fuel cell technology, combining the strength of FCE's Direct FuelCell power plants and the carbonate "EuroCell" technology of MTU, which will be licensed into FCES by Fraunhofer IKTS. Local manufacturing capacity will be established at a facility formerly leased by MTU in Ottobrunn, Germany, thus keeping advanced technology fuel cell power plant manufacturing in Germany.

Fuel cells electrochemically convert a fuel source into electricity and heat in a highly efficient process that emits virtually no pollutants due to the absence of combustion.

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Conergy to build two PV plants in Germany

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:38:00 GMT

Conergy AG (CGYK), a German solar-panel maker, has won orders to develop two solar photovoltaic power plants in the Trier area of Germany.

The Trier municipal utility commissioned Conergy to build a 1.2 MW plant near the A1 highway and a 1MW facility between Trier and Bitburg, the Hamburg-based company said in an e-mailed statement.

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David Miliband MP tours social housing biomass installation

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:02:00 GMT

David Miliband MP, attended the unveiling of the latest installation in South Shields, UK of leading international manufacturer of heating systems, Viessmann.

Viessmann was tasked to revamp the heating for 31 flats which make up Bents Cottages in Mowbray Road, South Shields, reports Propel Technology.

Originally built in the early 1980s, the flats were previously heated by a plant room containing gas boilers as much as thirty years old, as well as an aging control board of limited capabilities.

It is predicted that the various energy improvements installed in the redevelopment will lead to a 90 per cent reduction in the heating system?s CO2emissions, with cost savings of around £12,000 per year, which equates to savings of £384 per property.

With the support of a back-up gas boiler and also with solar thermal panels, a Vitoligno 300-P pellet biomass boiler now provides around 75 per cent of the annual heat load for the buildings, equating to approximately 243,000 kWh per year.

The pellet store is sunk into a geothermal unit underground to maintain the appearance of the residential area. In addition, a solar PV system generates 8,200 kWh electrical energy per year, saving on electricity bills and 4,300 kg of CO2annually.

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Renewables company breaks £6m barrier

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:53:00 GMT

Leading renewable energy company Eco Environments has seen its turnover grow to more than £6m ($9.6m) ? compared to £1.3M last year.

The company, which has its head office in Liverpool, has also seen its headcount increase from 12 to 50 during the past 12 months.

A combination of high take up of solar panels by domestic customers and a number of significant commercial contract wins saw the company achieve turnover of £6.4m, exceeding its forecasted revenue expectations.

However, with the Government?s feed-in-tariff incentives being slashed again from July 1, Eco Environments? plan moving forward is to put greater focus on the commercial side of its business and the wide range of renewable energy technologies offered by the company.

Mike Clarke, Eco Environments? Managing Director, said: ?Solar PV and feed-in-tariffs have dominated the news agenda for the last couple of years, but the focus going forward will be far more about energy efficiency in the face of ever rising energy costs.

?Eco Environments is not a provider of solar panels; it is a business which offers customers the full range of renewable energy solutions of which solar panels happens to be one.?

The company designs, installs and commissions technologies including solar PV, wind turbines, solar thermal, air source heat pumps and energy efficient lighting.

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‘Steel city’ ponders district heating from steel plants

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:55:00 GMT

The steel city of Sheffield in the UK is pondering the use of its most famously associated commodity, in a district energy initiative.

Engineers believe that excess heat from steel plants could be used to heat the city, significantly reducing the city?s CO₂ emissions.

According to a statement, steel could help provide a green alternative for heating Sheffield?s homes and businesses, alongside other renewable energy sources, reports the Engineer.

Experts from Sheffield University?s engineering faculty believe that the many steel plants located just outside the city centre could be connected to Sheffield?s existing district heating network to provide an extra 20 MW of thermal energy.

?It actually costs the steel plants to reduce the temperature of the flue gas and to cool the water used during steel manufacture,? said Prof Jim Swithenbank, who played a key role in developing the first phase of Sheffield?s district heating system in the late 1970s.

?Recovering this heat and transferring it to the district heating network reduces the cost of heat production, improves energy efficiency and is beneficial to the environment, making a win-win situation for the steelworks and the city.?

Sheffield already has the largest district heating system in the UK, powered through an energy recovery facility that burns the city?s non-recyclable waste.

Each year this generates 21MW of electricity, enough to power 22,000 homes, and 60MW of thermal energy in the form of super-heated steam, which is pumped around the city in a 44km network of underground pipes.

This provides space heating and hot water to more than 140 public buildings and 3000 homes across the city, reducing the city?s CO₂ emissions by 21000 tonnes a year.

While some UK cities are now using their waste incineration plants to generate electricity, few connect such facilities to a district heating system.

?The analysis we?ve carried out in Sheffield could be mirrored across other UK cities,? said Prof Vida Sharifi, who led the research. ?Heating buildings is responsible for half the energy use in the UK.

The government has estimated that if district heating were used across the UK in areas with high heat demand, it could supply around 5.5 million properties and contribute a fifth of the UK?s heating needs.?

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Uzbekenergo announces tender to modernize Syr-Darya CHP plant

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:46:00 GMT

Uzbekistan state joint-stock company Uzbekenergo has announced a tender to select a general contractor for modernizing the Syr-Darya combined heat and power plant, the largest CHPP in Central Asia.

The starting price has been set at $57.3m. Based on the terms of the tender, the winner must design and install turnkey equipment for the reconstruction of the third and fourth power units at Syr-Darya, with a capacity of 300 MW each.

During reconstruction, there are plans to boost the CHPP's capacity by 50 MW. The power units are slated for commissioning in October-December 2013.

Tender proposals are being accepted until June 12, with the results to be summed up in the third quarter of this year.

A loan from the Fund for the Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan and Uzbekenergo's own funds will be used to finance the project.

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On-site power solution for leisure centre

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:13:00 GMT

The on-site utility, EuroSitePower Limited, have announced that it has finalised an agreement to supply clean energy, heating and cooling, to the Haverhill Leisure Centre in Suffolk, England.

Under the terms of the fifteen-year agreement, the company will install and operate a high efficiency energy system and associated indoor units to provide air-conditioning to a number of the leisure centre's fitness suites and its cafe area.

The unit will produce up to 70 kW of either heating or cooling for the areas served plus an additional 22kW of hot water to help heat the centre's training pool.

The system will complement the combined heat and power system also provided by EuroSite Power under a previous agreement. The total value of the Abbeycroft Leisure account to the Company rises to pounds £1.75m ($2.81m).

"By securing this contract with Abbeycroft Leisure we are extending our clean energy solutions to include cooling alongside both heat and power," commented Paul Hamblyn, Managing Director of EuroSite Power.

"2012 has now seen EuroSite Power book an estimated 8.4 MWh of total energy per year for an approximate total revenue value of pounds Sterling 16.75 million over the term of the contracts and interest in our On-Site Utility solutions continues to grow across both the UK and Europe."

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Wartsila signs gas power agreement in South Africa

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:53:00 GMT

Wärtsilä has signed three year Operations & Maintenance (O&M) agreement with Sasol New Energy Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sasol, the integrated global energy and chemical company.

The agreement covers the company's gas engine power plant project in Sasolburg, South Africa.

The Sasol New Energy plant is expected to start producing electricity towards the end of 2012. It will be the largest power plant running exclusively on gas engines to be installed on the African continent, and because of its low emissions, will be a major advance in developing Sasol's electricity business.

The plant has installed capacity of 180 MW and it will provide the energy needed to power the company's major new production facilities, such as the Sasol Wax Expansion and Ethylene Purification Unit 5 projects, that are currently under construction.

"The gas engine power plant employs a cleaner fossil fuel based technology than traditional coal based technology and will reduce the CO₂ emissions by approximately 1 million tons per annum. In addition, it also generates electricity at a higher efficiency," says Kribs Govender, General Manager, Low Carbon Electricity, Sasol New Energy.

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German solar sector boosted after regions block government

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:27:00 GMT

Germany?s troubled solar energy sector has won some breathing space after the country?s regional government blocked subsidy cut plans tabled by Berlin in the upper house of parliament, leading to hope for solar companies that they might avoid the full force of cuts being proposed.

The FT reports that a majority of states voted to send the bill to an arbitration conference with the lower house, the Bundestag, arguing that big cuts to electricity price guarantees threatened thousands of the sector?s estimated 130,000 employees in Germany.

?We simply can?t accept that Berlin says, ?the Chinese are cheaper now, so goodbye,?? said Reiner Haseloff, the Christian Democrat state premier of Saxony-Anhalt, adding there would be ?a national outcry? if the car sector were so treated.

Chancellor Angela Merkel?s government wants to cut subsidies for solar-power installations by up to 30 per cent ? backdated to April ? to reform a support system that has run haywire and left consumers footing a rising bill for evermore sun-powered generation.

Solar energy last year received 60 per cent of price supports, leaving ?6bn to be divided among the five other renewable forms.

The chancellor?s spokesman on Friday stressed that Ms Merkel continued to believe that price guarantee cuts ? of between 20 and 40 per cent depending on the size of the solar plant ? were the only way to reform the system.

But Merkel?s government may have to compromise now that the states have voted otherwise.

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More progress on Canadian biomass plant

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:53:00 GMT

Novia Scotia Power?s 60 MW biomass plant moved another step closer to completion this week in Canada, with the addition of a steam turbine and generator to the facility.

The $208m biomass cogeneration plant has reached a significant milestone with the arrival of the steam turbine generator that will produce electricity.

On operation the plant will provide enough energy to power about 50,000 homes, reports the Cape Breton Post.

The steam turbine generator was constructed by Mitsubishi Power Systems in Japan.

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On-site renewables to help regenerate London housing estate

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:16:00 GMT

Housing association Peabody has submitted plans for the regeneration of the St John?s Hill Estate, opposite Clapham Junction station in south London, England in an initiative that looks to utilise the best of on-site renewable energy.

Planning Resource Online reports that Peabody said plans for the site include 527 new homes and a new community ?hub? that will include a café, club room and crèche; 424 sq m of commercial space; and 13,600 sq m of open space.

Environmental measures would include solar photovoltaic panels and an on-site district heating system and combined heat and power unit.

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Cogeneration and On-Site Power Production launch LinkedIn Group

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:06:00 GMT

Cogeneration and On-Site Power Production (COSPP) is pleased to announce the launch of our online COSPP LinkedIn Group.

COSPP LinkedIn promised to be the most dynamic area for industry news and discussion on the World Wide Web.

We welcome participation from everyone involved and interested in the various sectors that come under the heading of cogeneration and on-site power. The group offers the opportunity to meet with other industry peers, and interact through discussion, debate, news sharing and knowledge exchange.

We would also remind you of our other social media, Twitter and Facebook, and look forward to enjoying your input and enthusiasm on our latest venture.

Click COSPP LinkedIn and sign up today.

New Zealand’s largest solar plant operational

Fri, 11 May 2012 10:51:00 GMT

Engineering company South Auckland Forging Engineering (SAFE), is the owner of New Zealand?s largest solar power plant to date, with the opening of the new facility in the town of Drury.

The solar farm has been developed by Ramarama company. In total, the 68-KW solar farm is expected to meet 70 per cent of the company?s power needs, as well as the electricity needs of 12 houses, through the renewable energy gained from its solar photovoltaic panels. There are additional plans to sell back any power surplus.

The latest initiative is well in line with the New Zealand government?s carbon reduction target, which would see 90 per cent of the country?s electricity generated by renewable means by 2025.

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New innovation for Italian CHP company

Thu, 10 May 2012 11:58:00 GMT

A young Italian company that studies, plans and builds gasification and cogeneration systems has come up with a new innovation in combined heat and power technology.

Future Green has developed a system that can use wood chip with medium-high (< to 40÷50 per cent) moisture content.

These CHP systems find application in all those fields where wood-cellulose wastes can be found and can be profitably used with renewable energy CHP units with short ROI and extremely low maintenance costs.

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BP’s Brazilian unit to invest $25.5m in cogeneration project

Thu, 10 May 2012 11:27:00 GMT

BP Biocombustiveis, the Brazilian biofuels unit of BP (NYSE: BP), has announced that it will invest $25.5m in the development of a project for energy cogeneration from sugar cane bagasse.

The development will be located at its sugar and ethanol mill Tropical, in Brazil's central Goias state.

As a result of the project, the unit, which has capacity to crush 2.5 million tonnes of sugar cane per harvest, will be able to produce 170 GWh.

The company's energy cogeneration will ramp up to 510 GWh in 2013 from the 340 GWh estimated for this year, according to Mario Lindenhayn, CEO of BP Biocombustiveis.

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New York state’s largest on-site biogas project opens

Thu, 10 May 2012 11:05:00 GMT

New York state?s largest on-farm, co-digestion biogas power plant is set to open this week.

The on-site power facility will generate 1.4 MW of energy, reports Energy Efficiency News.

CH4 Biogas built and operates the plant at a dairy farm southwest of the city of Rochester, and the plant houses a 120,000-gallon co-digester to anaerobically digest local food waste and cow manure from the farm to fuel a GE (NYSE: GE) ecomagination Jenbacher J420 biogas engine.

The combination will generate enough electricity to power nearly 1000 homes and will reduce the dairy farm?s greenhouse gas emissions by around 8500 tons of CO₂ a year.

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Californian jail powered by on-site renewables

Wed, 09 May 2012 16:38:00 GMT

S&C Electric Company, a global leader in smart grid solutions and renewable energy integration, has the completion of an energy storage project at the Santa Rita Jail in California, US.

The new energy storage solution features S&C's PureWave® Storage Management System and helps integrate on-site renewable energy sources and storage at the facility.

The battery storage capabilities enable the jail to purchase power during non-peak hours from the local utility and store the reserves?a process that will end up saving the jail nearly $100,000 dollars per year.

The energy storage system is a key component of the jail's smart microgrid that was engineered and built by Chevron Energy Solutions. The microgrid serves a correctional facility that covers 113 acres and combines solar, wind, and fuel cell energy sources, along with emergency diesel backup, to generate electricity for the facility, which uses 3 MW of electricity daily.

During times when the facility is islanded from the local utility grid, the energy storage system balances the microgrid's load with the total power generated from on-site sources by automatically and instantly storing any energy generated in excess of the load requirements.

The energy storage system also supplies electricity if demand exceeds what the onsite generation sources are generating.

To add the needed energy balancing to the microgrid, S&C provided a 2-MW PureWave® Storage Management System to control the charging and discharging of lithium-ion batteries.

"With the stored energy system, the Santa Rita Jail can use on-site renewable generation to power the facility in the event of a power disruption on the utility grid," says Jim Sember, S&C Vice President?Power Quality Products.

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Carmanah awarded $1.3m rooftop PV contract

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:08:00 GMT

Carmanah Technologies Corporation (TSX: CMH) is working with PowerStream Inc. to provide and install a 300kW solar photovoltaic (PV) system for a community centre in Markham, Ontario, Canada.

The $1.3m (CAD) project will begin installation in May and has a target completion date for July 2012.

PowerStream?s solar division, a leading PV developer in Ontario, has completed several installations through the Ontario Power Authority?s Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program.

Leveraging their experience in custom rooftop systems and partnerships with sophisticated technology providers, Carmanah?s engineering team collaborated with Schletter Canada Inc. to propose an innovative design for the building?s requirements.

Carmanah and Schletter adapted a standard racking product that would minimize the necessity for physically anchoring the solar generating array, allowing for the bulk
of the system to be ballasted.

The system also features Heliene PV modules, selected again for their high performance and successful installation on last year?s Thornhill project.

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Turboden to deliver heat, power and cooling to BSkyB and BAA

Tue, 08 May 2012 16:10:00 GMT

Turboden, a leading manufacturer of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) turbogenerators, has been awarded an order for a 1 MW ORC plant from BSkyB and a 1.8 MW ORC plant for BAA, both located in London, UK.

?Traditionally Turboden has developed projects in which ORC units were suitable for district-heating in small-medium villages? - says Paolo Bertuzzi, General Manager Turboden ?in the last years Turboden has started developing trigenerative projects for large single public or private buildings whose drive is not only the return of the investment but also the green vision of the environment?.

Last December the first ORC unit was installed in the British Headquarter of BSkyB by Clearpower Ltd, a leading Bioenergy Solutions provider in the UK.

The plant will produce 1MWe and 4MWth (5 per cent heating for the building, 50 per cent to chiller and 45 per cent as heating to a district heating loop around the campus).

The biomass-fuelled combined cooling and heating power (CCHP) is to reduce the building?s carbon footprint by at least 20 per cent.

The second Turboden ORC unit by the London Heathrow Airport will produce 1.8MWe and 8MWth (75 per cent heat and 25 per cent to chiller, heating and cooling to Terminals T2a and T2b and heat only to Terminal T5). The biomass-fuelled combined cooling and heating (CCHP) power plant is to reduce the carbon footprint of the airport overall, by at least 40 per cent, by using renewable source of energy. Start-up is expected in the 2nd quarter of 2012.

The Italian firm is a Pratt & Whitney Power Systems company and Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) company.

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Haiti agrees on $250m waste to energy power plant

Tue, 08 May 2012 11:17:00 GMT

The Haitian Government has signed a $250m partnership agreement with the "International Electric Power Company"for the construction of a 30 MW waste to energy plant in the capital city of Port - au-Prince to power the city and its environs.

Karl Jean Louis Director of Centre for Facilitation of investments (CFI) explained, "we have an investor who wants to invest in this sector; it is the Phoenix project. They have signed a contract with the Government of Haiti and the project will start shortly, they will collect household waste, and convert them into energy and they will do so with a Haitian partner Boucard Pest Control."

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