LONDON (Alliance News) - Active Energy Group PLC Monday said it revealed its future plans for its newly launched renewable energy division at a four-day event in Utah in the US, which was attended by numerous government bodies, power generation firms and other third-party representatives.
Active Energy is primarily focused on supplying timberland management and development services, and industrial wood fibre, but has recently branched out with its new division, AEG CoalSwitch, which offers biomass coal replacement fuels, giving companies the opportunity to switch coal-fired stations to run of renewable sources rather than unfavourably-perceived coal.
FTSE 250-listed Drax Group PLC is one of the best known companies in the UK to have taken this method on a larger scale, and is currently in the process of converting its third unit of six at its power station in the UK to burn wood pellets rather than coal.
Drax is spending around GBP700.0 million on converting those three units and is establishing a wood pellet feedstock in the US to supply the units - showing the value of converting such an operation.
Active Energy claims its AEG CoalSwitch technology is the only technology that companies can use to immediately replace the coal they burn, to burn alongside coal, without having to make any adjustments to their facilities, or as the first "drop-in biomass fuel" on the market.
"My colleagues and I are greatly encouraged by the initial feedback from the AEG CoalSwitch manufacturing and burn tests, which validate our conviction that we possess a game-changing renewable energy solution. Creating a clean-burning Biomass fuel that can replace or supplement coal in existing power plants without retrofitting or facilities conversion has long been the' holy grail' of the power generation industry, and I applaud the entire AEG CoalSwitch team for their achievements," said Chief Executive Richard Spinks.
The company said that its technology converts any fibrous or wood-based biomass material into high-energy feedstock via a process that removes the vast majority of minerals, salts and other contaminants that have prevented renewable Biomass-derived fuels from entering the energy mainstream. The reason this fuel can be used as a direct substitute for coal, or mixed with it, is because it has very similar thermal and friability characteristics to coal.
Coal is under increasing pressure, especially in developed nations like the UK and the US where government's are trying to move away from coal and to more environmentally friendly alternatives such as gas, nuclear or renewable energy.
The US is aiming to have reduced carbon dioxide levels by 32% in 202 compared to 2005 levels whilst increasing the amount of renewable power generation by 30%, whilst the UK aims to have all if not most of its coal plants shut by the middle of the next decade.
The ease of converting an existing coal plant to biomass without the need for investment or a temporary shut-down makes it appealing, as it boosts renewable energy power generation whilst reducing emissions.
Active Energy held the launch of its division at its research & development facility in Utah, where it conducted a live demonstration of its technology. That involved watching raw Aspen wood, which was specifically chosen as Active Energy has access to that wood via its joint venture in western Canada, being processed "in minutes" into a "high-energy biomass fuel".
The calorific value of the biomass fuel was 23 gigajoules per metric tonne, which Active Energy said "compares favourably" to industrial coals which tend to have a calorific value of between 15 to 32 gigajoules per metric tonnes.
"The high calorific value of AEG CoalSwitch fuel - typically, an increase of more than 5 gigajoules per metric tonne above the current industry-standard white pellet - is accompanied by a materially higher uplift in bulk density levels, meaning that less space is required to transport the same volume of energy; resulting in significantly lower shipping and logistics costs to deliver the finished fuel to power plants," said Active Energy.
"The upscaled manufacturing process, which utilises no chemicals and leaves no damaging waste residues - most of the water produced is recycled and used within the closed system - exceeded the AEG CoalSwitch technical team's expectations; surpassing the results from the two previous smaller-scale prototypes," it added.
Active Energy has been improving its existing manufacturing facilities which have already seen a ten-fold increase in the amount of biomass fuel being created from raw Aspen since being launched.
The company has now finished designing the commercial scale reactor that could increase production eight-fold further, proposing the construction of 32 of those reactors at one site that would be capable of producing 40 tonnes of finished fuel per hour, it said.
"At the same time, we are concluding the funding arrangements for us to construct the first large-scale AEG CoalSwitch manufacturing plant, capable of producing more than 300,000 tonnes of high-quality fuel per annum; and continuing our efforts, via the group's AEG TimberLands division, to secure ever greater volumes of raw Biomass feedstock from Canada, the US, Europe and elsewhere," said Spinks.
The company is continuing to test its biomass fuel against typical coal and other biomass products, and believes it is of better quality and more diversified as it can also be supplied in pellets and many other forms such as briquettes.
"These significant developments at AEG CoalSwitch - both confirming the feasibility of upscaling its revolutionary fuel manufacturing process to produce industrial volumes of clean-burning Biomass fuel, and directly comparing its performance to the coal utilised in advanced power plants - represent the next steps in the company's business strategy," said the company.
"The success of the Utah event, and the exceptional reaction of all the attendees, including from the State of Utah, underscores the immense value that AEG CoalSwitch represents to the power generation industry as it seeks to reduce the harmful pollutants and emissions caused by existing technologies, and to improve air quality across the globe," Spinks added.
Active Energy shares were trading up 8.6% to 5.62 pence per share on Monday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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