ETI announces shortlist of companies in £2.8m competition to design energy from waste demonstrator

8th April 2013

The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has drawn up a shortlist of three companies competing to design the most economically and commercially viable, efficient energy from waste gasification demonstrator plant possible.

Advanced Plasma Power (APP), Broadcrown Ltd and Royal Dahlman have each been commissioned to design and develop a plant to demonstrate an integrated system that would be commercial at between 5 and 20 megawatts (MWe).

The chosen plant could be designed, built, tested and in operation by 2016. The expectation is that once completed, the chosen plant will operate as a demonstration site for up to four years. This is thought to be the first time a total system approach for an energy from waste gasification facility of this size has been considered in an R&D project.

The aim of the ETI commissioned and funded £2.8m project is to demonstrate how such a plant could create energy from waste at efficiencies higher than previously produced in the industry at this scale. The challenge is that each complete system will need to operate at a net electrical efficiency of at least 25%.

The consortium led by APP will design a demonstration facility with an electrical output of 6MWe. APP’s Gasplasma® technology will be used to produce a clean syngas as a fuel for the development and demonstration of high-efficiency power generation solutions. The Gasplasma® process uses a separate plasma furnace to crack and clean the crude syngas from a gasifier prior to its direct utilisation in gas engines or a gas turbine.

UK company Broadcrown Ltd will design a high-efficiency demonstration facility with an electrical output of 2MWe using a robust yet highly scaleable concept that promotes distributed waste management and power generation. Broadcrown Ltd will be partnering with major European and American technology companies including a gas engine manufacturer to demonstrate a combined cycle with unprecedented efficiency using syngas.

In parallel, Royal Dahlman will develop a plant with an electrical output of 7MWe using patented MILENA-OLGA technology, developed in cooperation with ECN. This will convert the waste into a clean gas suitable for an efficient combined cycle power plant. Royal Dahlman will lead a strong team of British, Swiss, American and Dutch partners. This integrated gasification combined cycle demonstration plant could be the stepping stone to larger and even more efficient plants.

Stage one of the project (the design phase) will last 10 months and phase two of the project will see the winning design selected in early 2014, with selection based on cost and projected performance.

Paul Winstanley, the ETI Bioenergy Project Manager overseeing the competition, said: "Our national modelling work shows that bioenergy could be a key component of any future energy systems mix to meet the demands of providing affordable, secure and sustainable energy. We have already completed an extensive analysis of the existing energy from waste technologies currently available, as well as the breakdown and quantities of typical UK municipal, commercial and industrial waste. This analysis indicates that new plant designs at this scale could potentially operate at a net efficiency rate of at least 25%, which significantly exceeds the performance of current plants in operation. Any successful design of such a plant will provide the opportunity to move towards more efficient, distributed energy conversion technologies and reduce dependency on landfill for waste management in the UK."

Steve Lee, CEO at the Chartered institution of Wastes Management added: "Gasification is a technology with a future using waste as its feedstock. A competitive approach to design for a cost- and energy efficient demonstration plant will be watched closely by the whole industry."

Rolf Stein, CEO of Advanced Plasma Power stated: "We are extremely pleased to be part of this ETI project and consider that this gives us the opportunity to demonstrate our Gasplasma® waste to energy technology with alternative high-efficiency power island solutions thereby improving competition in the market for the generation of electricity from syngas."

David Borgman, Broadcrown Ltd’s co-founder and Managing Director said: "We have always looked for a better way of doing things, reducing energy consumption, increasing power outputs, meeting the demands of tomorrow. This commission is a welcome endorsement of our commitment to providing the best engineering expertise and delivering systems to the highest possible standard."

Jan-Willem Könemann, Renewable Technology Executive, Royal Dahlman, added: "We are convinced that the MILENA-OLGA technology is one of the most advanced and efficient gasification technologies available today. In the current economical situation it is hard to finance innovative and therewith risky projects launching new technology. This ETI project, resulting in a technical and commercial successful waste to energy plant, will be the breakthrough we are all looking for."

To view ETI Bioenergy Project Manager Paul Winstanley explain the project please click here