Capstone Turbine Corp., the world’s leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, announced Aug. 19 that it has secured a 400 kW microturbine sale to power another biogas-to-energy project in France. The order for the lightweight and compact 3-bay C400 Signature Series package was secured by Biogaz Services, Capstone’s distributor for renewable energy in France.

The microturbine package will operate on renewable biogas from the methane generated from agricultural green waste, cow manure, and pig manure. The Capstone C400S will be coupled with an exhaust fired heat exchanger and will utilize the biogas to produce electricity that will be put back on the local French electrical grid while the thermal energy generated from the microturbine exhaust will feed a nearby hospital.

The Capstone C400S microturbine was selected for its fuel tolerance, low operating costs, and low emissions. Capstone microturbines have the ability to use biogas, whose composition can vary greatly, and produce clean and green electricity and thermal energy. France has strict ecological regulations, which Capstone microturbines are able to meet, helping to reduce the impact on the environment. Another key factor in the equipment selection process was Capstone’s industry-leading comprehensive Factory Protection Plan (FPP) long-term service contract. The Capstone FPP provides customers’ needs to ensure the smooth operation of its system at a fixed cost over several years.

The renewable energy market has traditionally been Capstone’s third-largest market vertical and represented 7 percent of revenue in fiscal 2019. However, in May the company announced a 9.6 MW renewable energy biogas order which was the largest order received by Capstone in the company’s history. The market for biogas and renewable natural gas (RNG) are gaining popularity as customers continue to look for ways to create a lower-carbon environment and a clean energy future.

According to a 2018 Navigant Consulting report for Southern California Gas Co., replacing less than 20 percent of the traditional natural gas supply with RNG captured from sources like dairies, wastewater treatment plants and landfills can achieve greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions equivalent to converting 100 percent of buildings in Southern California to electric-only energy by 2030. And using a mix of in and out of state RNG is three times more cost-effective in reducing GHGs than an electrification pathway.

“Capstone is excited to be an essential part of the development of these biogas projects and helping create renewable biogas-to-energy and renewable natural gas-to-energy projects as the new fuels of choice in the green economy,” said Darren Jamison, Capstone’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Capstone’s strategy has been focused on the fortification of our core energy efficiency and natural resource market verticals while simultaneously diversifying into additional market verticals like biogas and renewable natural gas,” concluded Jamison.

Capstone’s last quarterly results indicated a gross product book-to-bill ratio of 1.7:1 compared with 1.4:1 for the fourth quarter and 1.3:1 in the third quarter of fiscal 2019 illustrating the company’s potential ability to expand its future revenues and ability to continue its revenue diversification initiative as new gross product book-to-bill ratio was positive for the third consecutive quarter and fifth time in the last six quarters.

“Capstone microturbines were the logical choice as our technology is flexible with the ability to turn units off to match variations in the methane that is produced,” said Jim Crouse, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Capstone. “This built-in flexibility also provides higher efficiency as compared to a single, large, traditional power generation solution,” added Crouse.