Capstone Turbine Corporation (NASDAQ:CPST), the maker of clean-energy microturbines, has announced its first 800 kilowatt (kW) C800 Signature Series order for a new and innovative biogas project in Japan.
The project will utilize organic biomass in the form of agricultural and animal waste to generate clean and efficient energy for the Biokurasix Handa biogas power generation facility, Capstone said in a statement.
Kanamoto, Capstone’s exclusive distributor in Japan, secured the order for the biogas-fueled C800 Signature Series microturbine, which is expected to be commissioned in late 2020.
READ: Capstone Turbine secures its third direct sales order
In a statement, Capstone cited a recent study by Global Market Insights estimating that the biogas market could exceed $110 billion globally by 2025 as countries move to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels for power generation.
Reduced dependence on fossil fuels, along with the introduction of innovative financial instruments and government incentives, is expected to drive an increased movement toward the deployment of sustainable biogas energy technologies, it noted.
Capstone CEO Darren Jamison pointed out that prior to the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, power generation in Japan was dominated by nuclear and fossil fuels.
“However, since Fukushima, Japan has been striving to expand its renewable energy generation capacity to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels," Jamison said
"Japan has one of the largest biogas markets globally and the government aims to double generation by 2030. At Capstone Turbine, markets for biogas, wastewater, landfills, and breweries continue to grow and today make up 15% of our total revenue for the nine months ended December 31, 2019, compared to only 8% in the same period last year," he added.
Biogas-powered facility
Completion of the biogas-powered facility in the city of Handa in Aichi Prefecture is scheduled for 2021 and the focus will be on powering the local economy with renewable energy resources and technologies such as utilizing clean exhaust heat and gas from the Capstone microturbine to power facility processes and selling surplus power back to the grid.
Capstone said the biogas-fueled 800 kW microturbine will be installed in a grid-connect mode, which enables the customer to operate with the utility grid in a load sharing capacity. The facility will produce a considerable amount of biogas on a consistent basis by using a digester to process the organic biomass coming from the city of Handa.
The microturbine energy system will take this renewable fuel and provide prime power to the facility, ensuring complete management of the waste cycle.
Capstone, based in Van Nuys, California, offers a product line-up of microturbines that can produce anywhere from 30 kilowatts to 10 megawatts of power, operating on a variety of gaseous or liquid fuels. To date, Capstone has shipped over 9,000 units to 73 countries.
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