Lockheed Martin and Concord Blue to build bioenergy facility in Germany

Lockheed Martin, based in Bethesda, Maryland, and Germany-based Concord Blue have announced a new contract to build a power generation facility that will provide a new, clean energy source to meet the needs of 5,000 homes and businesses in Herten, Germany.

The 5-megawatt power generation facility will transform forestry waste to power using Concord Blue’s Reformer technology, which converts waste to energy through advanced gasification. Under this engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, Lockheed Martin will provide overall project management, engineering and design, procurement and construction for the new facility.

“Lockheed Martin is excited to manufacture the Concord Blue technology, which advances how the world addresses clean energy and waste reduction challenges,” says Mauricio “Mo” Vargas, bioenergy lead for Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems and Training business. “The Herten facility will demonstrate the accessibility of innovative energy technology to global customers.”

Concord Blue says its Reformer technology is feedstock-flexible, converting nearly any kind of organic waste into clean, sustainable energy. Unlike other available waste-to-energy processes, Concord Blue’s unique process employs a patented technology called steam thermolysis to convert waste material using heat transfer instead of incineration.

“Located at the Hydrogen Competence Center in Herten, this Concord Blue Reformer (CBR) will be a landmark in the region that receives international interest,” says Concord Blue’s founder and CEO Charlie Thannhaeuser. “This project represents the sixth commercial CBR, a testament not only to the technological quality of our waste-to-energy solution, but also to the economic viability.”

In 2013, Lockheed Martin and Concord Blue signed an agreement to develop an advanced waste conversion system to address waste disposal, energy security and climate control issues through clean energy production. In October 2014, Lockheed Martin was selected as the exclusive manufacturing provider of the Concord Blue Reformer.

Concord Blue operates globally, with offices in the United States, Germany, India and Dubai.