Gasification specialist Advanced Plasma Power (APP) has been awarded a 1.9 million grant for commercial trials of the production of its residual waste-derived syngas for use in homes.
The finance is part of a three-year project partly funded by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem).
The project, co-managed by APP, the National Grid and Progressive Energy, a clean energy development firm, will produce low carbon methane, or bio-substitute natural gas from residual waste for use in the UK gas network.
APP will conduct a two stage thermal gasification process at its trial facility in Swindon, which became operational in 2008.
The programme, which is the second phase of a feasibility study started in February 2012, aims to establish whether converting waste-derived syngas to a quality acceptable for the gas network is commercially viable (see letsrecycle.com story).
The second phase of the trial, for which APP has the received the Ofgem funding, will look at gathering data from the procurement, fabrication, and test operation of the demonstration facility.
Data
APP says that the trial will provide technical and economic data to demonstrate the viability of rolling out the technology on a commercial scale.
Waste for the trial will not be derived from any single supplier, but the company has said that it will be seeking to carry out testing on a wide range of feedstocks.
‘Green gas could help the UK in realising its ambitions of keeping the lights on, reducing carbon emissions, keeping energy costs low for consumers and diverting waste from landfill a truly complete solution.’
Rolf Stein, APP chief executive officer
Work will start in April 2014, and will be split into three phases for building, commissioning, and testing the programme, with an estimated completion date of March 2017.
Rolf Stein, APP chief executive officer, welcomed the funding as an important step in reducing UK energy costs.
He said: Green gas, produced using our Gasplama technology, is a viable, cost-efficient and green alternative to natural gas. Indeed, its expansion could help the UK in realising its ambitions of keeping the lights on, reducing carbon emissions, keeping energy costs low for consumers and diverting waste from landfill a truly complete solution.
Chris Manson-Whitton, director of Progressive Energy, added: Stewarding our waste resources to deliver renewable substitute natural gas to customers is an important and valuable element in delivering low carbon, secure energy supplies.
We welcome Ofgems recognition of the strength of the project and the delivery team. We look forward to demonstrating the technology as a platform for widespread deployment.
Bids
The APP development is one of 10 successful project bids selected by Ofgem, which has designated over 59 million in funding for programmes which could potentially cut the cost for UK energy consumers and modernise electricity and gas networks.
Marcus Stewart, Energy Demand Manager, National Grid, said: Innovation is at the heart of National Grids approach to keeping the gas flowing.
This 1.9m of funding will be a massive boost to the project, which aims to develop a cleaner way to heat our homes and businesses. We see this as a very important development in the decarbonisation of heat and are pleased that Ofgem share this view.
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