In Sweden, Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology provider for thermal power plants, Againity AB has announced that it has sold over 50 ORC turbine units, reflecting the growing demand for sustainable and local electricity production in Europe through co-generation.
Founded in 2013, Againity ORC turbines have now been installed in six different countries and have been implemented at a total of 34 heating plants around Sweden.
The company has gradually expanded its global presence and in recent years shown stable growth with new partnerships and references as a result of the need to integrate more dispatchable electricity into society.
We now see that it is becoming even more important with increased planned electricity production. There, we have an opportunity to use our ORC turbines to supply basic power in a very efficient way during the winter months when it is most needed. We are delighted that so many of our heating plants have discovered this opportunity to both contribute to a more robust electricity grid, and at the same time lower their operating costs for a more competitive district heating, commented David Frykerås, CEO at Againity.
In addition to Sweden, the Baltic States have become a significant market for Againity. Over the past year, the company has established its first references in both Lithuania and Estonia, including an order for four ORC turbines with a maximum capacity of 0.5 MW each.
These will be installed at existing hot water boilers at a heating plant in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
Strong interest in Sweden
In Sweden, both existing and new customers have chosen to upgrade their heating plants to co-generation plants.
At present, Againity is supplying an average of two new ORC turbines per month, and demand remains strong, as many see the benefits of reducing their dependence on fluctuating electricity prices by producing their own electricity.
Our ORC has three preset operating modes: cover our own use, produce at maximum, and turn off. It makes life easy to live regardless of the electricity price, said Ola Thorson, Business Area Manager Heating at Kungälv Energi AB.
The combined installed power capacity of the entire Againity ORC fleet is now approximately 12 MW, where expected production is around 80 GWh of electricity annually, corresponding to emissions savings of 72,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq) when replacing European marginal electricity.
In order to make more electricity available in order to enable future establishments in Eskilstuna municipality, an ORC fits in perfectly when we are now expanding our district heating network in Eskilstuna Logistikpark with a new solid fuel boiler, commented Lotta Lejdberg, Business Area Manager Energy at ESEM – Eskilstuna Strängnäs Energi och Miljö AB.
Againity continues to meet the increasing demand for green power generation, currently, there are over 400 heating plants in Sweden that lack electricity production many of which could be upgraded to co-generation with an ORC turbine.
