Ener-Core completes construction of Power Oxidizer unit in California

Irvine, California-based Ener-Core Inc., provider of Power Oxidation technology and equipment that generates clean power from low-quality and waste gases from a wide variety of industries, has announced the completion of primary construction of the first-ever 2 megawatt (MW)-sized Power Oxidizer in December 2015. The unit was assembled on the industrial site of Combustion Associates Inc. in Corona, California, and will be integrated with a gas turbine to create the first-ever fully integrated 2 MW Powerstation based on Ener-Core’s proprietary technology. A photograph of the fully-constructed 2 MW Power Oxidizer, as well as a diagram comparing it to Ener-Core’s existing product (250-333 kW Power Oxidizer) are included with this press release.

The rated power capacity of this next-generation Power Oxidizer is eight times greater than the power capacity of the current products that Ener-Core has installed to date. The company says this ramp-up in size represents a significant step forward for Ener-Core’s business and product offerings, for two key reasons. First, the volume of waste gas that can be used as a fuel to generate energy with this larger-size Power Oxidizer is more closely aligned with the volumes that are produced by most of the industrial facilities within Ener-Core’s current commercial pipeline. Second, the economies of scale associated with this larger unit are expected to result in a significantly lower and hence much more attractive cost of power generation.

The 2 MW prototype unit will be used initially to complete the testing of certain operational performance parameters required by a purchase order received by Ener-Core in August 2015. This testing, also known as the “Full Scale Acceptance Test” or FSAT, is the final technical milestone of Ener-Core’s product scale-up efforts. After the FSAT is completed (expected in Q1 2016), Ener-Core will commence construction of the two next-generation units to fulfill the purchase order.

“The construction of the first-ever 2 MW powerstation unit represents a significant milestone in the development of our industrial-sized product offerings and an important step toward completing the final validation of the feasibility of Ener-Core’s groundbreaking technology to operate at much larger power capacities than what we have installed and operated to-date,” says Ener-Core’s CEO, Alain Castro. “At some point, most utility-scale power technologies must prove that they can surpass the 1 MW size threshold, in order to be able to address the needs of the utility-scale power infrastructure market. We are on the cusp of making this historic step in the next few months.”

Irvine, California-based Ener-Core, Inc. (ENCR) designs, manufactures and has commercially deployed unique systems that generate base load, clean power from polluting waste gases including methane.