Mannheim, March 18, 2016
Last year, the French Caterpillar Energy Solutions partner and dealer Eneria had installed a powerful Cat CG260-16 gas engine for a sustainable vegetable cultivation company situated south of Nantes, France. The CHP plant supplies the greenhouses in which tomatoes and grapes are grown with power and heat energy throughout the year on a 24/7 basis. The operation of this system is considerably less costly than the conventional method of heating with a gas condensing boiler.
Existing CHP Plants Supplemented with Additional Gas Engine
Apart from the low operating costs, especially the high overall output of 4,300 kWel and the high overall efficiency of 85.5 percent were key factors due to which the French family company decided for the CHP plant. In 2015, the company progressed, not only in terms of eco-friendly energy generation, but also by upsizing its production area from 5 to 8 ha. Thus, Eneria was requested to supplement the two existing CHP plants with another gas genset from Caterpillar Energy Solutions in order to generate sufficient energy for the production of 2,000 t of tomatoes.
Eneria Fulfills Customer-Specific Requirements
The long-standing Caterpillar Energy Solutions partner and dealer Eneria took care of the planning and installation of the cogeneration plant. The CHP plant was duly adapted to the needs of the customer, the available space, and the location-specific heat needs of the greenhouses. In this project, the proximity to a large road was a special challenge; in the planning stage, it was important to ensure the required minimum distance from this traffic route.
Eneria has produced an impressive image film, which demonstrates how the 53-t CHP plant was set up and commissioned in less than four months:
Enrina Imagefilm on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com//kdQoameqPHc (in French language)