Dive Brief:
- Ener-Core, Inc. has signed a license agreement giving Dresser-Rand—owned by Siemens—the exclusive rights to manufacture its power oxidizer gas turbines.
- Dresser-Rand and Siemens will expand the product's reach by selling it to new and existing industrial customers. Ener-Core will receive a license fee payment for each unit sold.
- The technology is used to convert low-quality waste gases, such as landfill emissions, into heat and power. This agreement covers turbines within the 1 to 4 MW power capacity range.
Dive Insight:
The companies had been working together under a commercial license agreement for the past 18 months to develop sales opportunities, according to Waste360. Engineers from both companies have also been working to scale-up Ener-Core's power oxidizer and integrate it with Dresser-Rand's KG2 turbine. This new agreement will be effective after the successful completion of a full-scale acceptance test for Ener-Core's 2 MW system this month.
This appears to be a smart move for Ener-Core. Moving away from manufacturing will cut down on operating expenses while teaming up with these multinational corporations will give the product a much wider reach. CEO Alain Castro projects that between the reduction in expenses and new license fee payments, Ener-Core will have a positive cash flow within 12 to 18 months.
Ener-Core recently received a conditional $3.29 million purchase order to install four of its EC-250 EcoStations at the Toyon Canyon Landfill in Los Angeles. Located in Griffith Park, the landfill's gas quality has stopped generating viable amounts of electricity with existing equipment. Ener-Core estimates that its new stations will generate 1 MW of power for the next 10 to 15 years.
