Improving energy efficiency in the industrial sector is being prioritised in many countries because of its importance in the pursuit of energy supply security, increasing economic competitiveness and in reducing greenhouse gases emissions. One of the most energy-intensive industries in North America and Europe, is pulp and paper.
According to Statistics Canada, in 2014, the pulp and paper industry accounted for 24% of the total energy consumed by all manufacturing operations in the country. This was down from 31% in 2005. This decline reflects changes in the demand for certain paper products such as newsprint (Canada’s primary newsprint market, the United States, witnessed a considerable fall-off in newspaper circulation as more readers migrated to digital media sources), as well as energy efficiency improvements at various mills. Typical paper mills use most of their energy in the pulping and drying processes, but the specific energy consumption in pulp and paper production is a result of several factors, including plant size, product mix, processes used, the technical age of the mill, feedstock quality, plant capacity utilization, and climate conditions. Investment to improve energy efficiency in the pulp and paper industry can deliver large energy savings, improved productivity, and reduced environmental pollution. Opportunities to improve energy efficiency include: heat recovery, cogeneration, increased use of (self-generated) biomass fuel, and increased recycling of recovered paper, efficient motors and improved efficiency of steam use. The pulp and paper industry requires a typically high amount of power and heat in forms of hot air and/or steam. And, with such a high, steady demand for heat as well as power, many pulp and paper plants are perfectly positioned to take advantage of the benefits offered by Thermal Energy International’s best-in-class heat recovery, cogeneration, and steam trap solutions. Thermal Energy's FLU-ACE® heat recovery technology can recover as much as 90% of the heat normally lost through dryer section / hood exhausts in the form of water at 50°C to 70°C. This is possible using the FLU-ACE’s unique direct contact (gas/liquid) packed-tower design, enabling optimal recovery of both sensible and latent heat, in widely varying operating conditions. The pulp and paper industry remains a prime candidate for cogeneration. Thermal Energy’s Super-Efficient Cogeneration™ solutions can provide up to 70% savings on electrical costs at a self-generated kWh cost of less than $0.04/kWh, and an additional 10% to 20% natural gas energy savings from up to 90% recovery of heat losses from existing exhaust streams. The Company's GEM™ steam traps help pulp and paper manufacturers achieve a 10% to 20% permanent reduction in steam costs. GEM steam traps have no moving parts, require virtually no maintenance, and come with a ten-year “no fail” performance warranty, which means increased reliability and less maintenance costs. Venturi orifice designed GEM steam traps can help eliminate water hammering problems, eliminate the cost of replacing failed traps, and improve a plant’s production output. An increasing number of pulp and paper companies are recognizing their social obligations and their role in the communities and countries in which they operate. In fact, many proactive forest-industry companies have brought responsible business practices visibly into their corporate strategies and communication efforts. Thermal Energy International is well positioned to work with pulp and paper companies in helping them achieve their corporate energy savings and greenhouse gas reduction goals.
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Canadian cleantech company, Thermal Energy International, announced yesterday that it has landed its first "Super-Efficient CogenerationTM" order. The order, valued at $1.46 million, comes as repeat business from its leading Fortune 500 food and beverage customer. This customer most recently orders a $1.82 million FLU-ACE heat recovery system from Thermal Energy in July. Partially utilizing the FLU-ACE(R) unit previously installed, Thermal Energy will work with this customer to implement a number of additional energy efficiency and heat recovery measures related to three new reciprocating engine units to be installed on-site. These measures are expected to result in the customer's cogeneration plant being more than 88% efficient. This compares to typical cogeneration systems, which operate between 65% and 75% efficiency. "Our solutions - our technologies and expertise - enable us to squeeze more usable energy out of each unit of fuel. Our Super-Efficient Cogeneration solution represents a dramatic energy efficiency improvement over typical cogeneration systems widely available. This has allowed us, at this site, to roughly double the revenue that we will earn when compared to providing a FLU-ACE system alone." - William Crossland, CEO of Thermal Energy. Key benefits of Thermal Energy's Super-Efficient Cogeneration Solution: Typical cogeneration systems produce combustion efficiencies in the range of 65% to 75% (compared to 35% to 45% for a non-integrated reciprocating engine or gas / steam turbine plant). By combining a typical cogeneration unit with Thermal Energy's energy efficiency and heat recovery expertise and technology, cogeneration efficiencies can now be pushed as high as 95%. Other key benefits include:
Last week, Donald Trump announced that he was pulling out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. It's a case of a leader not representing the interests of the masses. A leader not understanding the business case for a clean energy future, or the enormous costs of doing nothing to address climate change. Fortunately, Trump does not have the ability to prevent the United States from pursuing that clean energy future and curbing emissions. In fact, many government officials and businesses big and small across the United States have since reiterated that they will continue to back the Paris Agreement. They understand what what Trump does not --- that clean energy and a booming economy can go hand-in-hand.
Last week, New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, signed an executive order directing the city to develop a plan to honour the commitments, which includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. Bill de Blasio is just one of 246 U.S. mayors representing 56 million Americans, who have pledged to adopt, honor, and uphold the commitments to the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement.
On the same day as Trump's announcement, the Governors of the states of Washington, New York and California announced their intention to form a United States Climate Alliance. Several other states quickly followed suit, most notably Massachusetts and Vermont, which have Republican governors. Many other states are expected to support the alliance in the coming days. Businesses too are stepping forward. Apple, Levi Strauss, Allianz, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Lyft, L’Oreal and Pacific Gas & Electric, along with hundreds of other businesses of all sizes, have declared their continued support for the Paris Agreement. So, while Donald Trump has pulled out of the Paris Agreement, fortunately he doesn't speak for the United States. According to a report from Research and Markets, the global Combined Heat and Power market is expected to continue its growth trajectory, approaching an installed capacity of approximately 972 GW by 2025. This is up from approximately 755.2 GW of installed capacity in 2016. The total CHP installed capacity increased from 437.4 Gigawatts (GW) in 2006 to 733.7 GW in 2015, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.9%. The market is being driven by the need for energy efficiency, growing environmental concern, and increasing government incentives and policies to promote cogeneration. Governments around the world are supporting the growth in CHP by way of favorable policies and financial incentives. Strong commitment from these governments for the development of CHP has led to various R&D initiatives and CHP installations, which will drive the market in the upcoming period. We believe that companies that are able to combine CHP with waste heat recovery technologies will be better-positioned to capitalize on the strong market fundamentals and expected growth. For instance, combining a typical cogeneration product with Thermal Energy International’s proprietary FLU-ACE heat recovery technology results in a marked improvement, pushing efficiency up to as high as 93%, compared to typical cogeneration systems that provide efficiency of around 65% to 75% on average. In North America, manufacturers and other industrial operations account for approximately one third of the total energy consumed and one third of fossil fuel related greenhouse gas emissions. For the most part, that energy is not used as efficiently as it could be, with between 20 to 50% of industrial energy input being lost as waste heat – primarily as hot exhaust gases, cooling water, and heat lost from hot equipment surfaces and heated products.
What if we could capture lost energy and use it? There are proven technologies available today that do just that. That’s right, there are readily available solutions that significantly increase the efficient use of our energy resources, making industrial energy efficiency one of the best clean energy sources available. In fact, according to a recent report from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, “How Much Does Energy Efficiency Cost,” the “new” power resulting from energy efficiency projects is significantly less expensive than the cost of power that would be generated by new power plants (including wind farms and utility scale solar power). So why are they not being used more pervasively? The challenge is that the upfront cost of installing clean technologies can be prohibitively expensive for companies that require a short term return on investment. That being said, there are numerous energy efficiency solutions that provide a high return on investment with short, compelling paybacks. Some of the possible improvements at the structure level are replacement of burners and use of stack economizers on boilers (15% to 20% of the energy used in a boiler plant is lost up the boiler stack), converting mechanical steam traps over to venturi orifice steam traps, and installing a cogeneration (or combined heat and power) system. Waste heat to power captures waste heat that would typically be vented from an industrial facility and uses it to make electricity without additional fuel or emissions. Cogeneration plants, which produce both heat and power from a single source of fuel, provides double the efficiency of central station power generation. Electricity generation based on fossil fuels is rather inefficient. At best the electrical efficiency is usually around 40% at full load, meaning 60% of the fuel energy content is wasted as residual heat. Standard cogeneration systems make use of this waste heat, potentially improving overall efficiency up to as high as 75% to 80%. Combining a typical cogeneration product with heat recovery technology can push this efficiency even higher. That’s exactly what Canadian cleantech company, Thermal Energy International, is doing. By combining cogeneration and the company’s proprietary FLU-ACE heat recovery technology, Thermal Energy offers a super-efficient cogeneration solution with an energy efficiency of up to 93%. Thermal Energy’s cogeneration solution can provide up to 70% savings on electrical costs at a self-generated kWh cost of less than $0.04/kWh, and an additional 10% to 20% natural gas energy savings from up to 90% recovery of heat losses from existing exhaust streams. These are just a few examples of readily available technologies that dramatically lower energy use, emissions, and costs, thereby improving competitiveness. With companies always looking to improve their cost base, it is easy to see why energy efficiency should be a really important alternative to consider. With the short and compelling paybacks many of these projects provide, surely it is time for more companies to consider making the investment.
Ottawa based, Thermal Energy International Inc. (TSXV: TMG), today announced its financial results for the three months (Q2) and six months (YTD) ended November 30, 2016. All figures are in Canadian dollars.
Highlights:
Q2 2017 Financial Review: Revenue for the quarter grew 23% to $3.1 million compared to $2.5 million for the second quarter of last year. Sales of heat recovery systems increased 7%, while GEM sales were up 34% compared to the same quarter a year ago. Gross profit for the quarter increased 19% to $1.9 million compared to $1.6 million for the second quarter of last year. As a percentage of sales, gross profit for the quarter was 62.7% compared to 64.6% in the second quarter a year ago. The Company achieved significant increases in EBITDAS and net income for the quarter. EBITDAS for the quarter was $285 thousand compared to $84 thousand a year earlier. Net income for the quarter improved to $175 thousand from $26 thousand in the second quarter of last year. Adjusted operating cash flow (defined as net income for the period, plus items not involving cash, plus lease payments received) for the quarter was $274 thousand compared to $85 thousand for the same period last year. As at November 30, 2016, the Company had a net cash balance of $1.5 million. With cash balances and unused borrowing capacity combining for a total of approximately $1.9 million, management believes that it has sufficient capital resources to fund existing operations and anticipated capital requirements for the remainder of fiscal 2017. Order and Backlog Summary: The Company had an order backlog of approximately $7.1 million as at January 19, 2017, compared to $6.9 million a year ago. The current order backlog is comprised of several heat recovery orders announced during the first half of fiscal 2017, including $2.8 million remaining in orders from three hospital customers, $1.7 million from a leading ethanol producer, $644 thousand remaining from a global brewing company, and $150 thousand remaining from a global mining and materials company. Previously announced GEM orders included in the current backlog are $194 thousand remaining in orders from a leading performance materials company, and $147 thousand from a hospital. The current backlog also includes a $95 thousand GEM order from a Fortune 500 food and beverage leader, which was not previously announced. The Company includes in “order backlog” the value of projects in respect of which purchase orders have been received but have not yet been reflected as revenue in the Company’s published quarterly financial statements.
About Thermal Energy International Inc. Thermal Energy International Inc. is an established global supplier of proprietary, proven energy efficiency and emissions reduction solutions to the industrial and institutional sectors. We save our customers money and improve their bottom line by reducing their fuel use and cutting their carbon emissions. Our customers include a large number of Fortune 500 and other leading multinational companies across a wide range of industry sectors. Thermal Energy is also a fully accredited professional engineering firm, and can offer advanced process and applications engineering services. Thermal Energy International Inc. has offices in Ottawa, Canada as well as Bristol, U.K., United States, Italy and China. The Company’s common shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V) under the symbol TMG. As the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, Germany is keenly aware of its obligation to tackle climate change. And German industry is also keenly aware that reducing harmful emissions and using resources more efficiently is not only good for the environment, it is also good for business competitiveness and profitability. Germany’s contributions to tackle climate change are manifold, but especially with regard its transition to a reliable, and affordable energy supply they are significant: By 2020, Germany’s is targeting to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared to 1990 levels, and by 80 to 95% by 2050. Germany has also set ambitious targets for reducing energy consumption by 20% by 2020 compared to 2008 levels, and by half by 2050. While renewables will play a big role how the country looks to curb climate change, improving energy efficiency is obviously crucial. According to the GTAI (a foreign trade and inward investment agency of the Federal Republic of Germany), the German energy efficiency market is expected to grow to €176 billion by 2025. That represents an annual growth of 4.9%. Growth Drivers
Industrial Energy Efficiency Has a Big Role to Play Industry is the largest user of energy in Germany. With between 20 to 50% of all industrial energy input being lost as waste heat in the form of hot exhaust gases, cooling water, and heat lost from hot equipment surfaces and heated products, large cost saving opportunities and increased productivity can be achieved by companies who can use energy more efficiently. While many industrial companies are taking some positive action, substantial opportunities to improve energy efficiency still remains. The efficiency gap is found across all sectors, from food and beverage, pulp and paper, and healthcare, to pharmaceuticals, chemical, automotive, etc. Energy efficiency is among the cheapest and cleanest energy resources available. In fact, according to a recent report from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, “How Much Does Energy Efficiency Cost,” the “new” power resulting from energy efficiency efforts is substantially less expensive than the cost of power that would be generated by new power plants (including wind farms and utility scale solar power). Yet for industry, and manufacturing operations in particular, the quickest and most effective source of lower energy bills remains largely under exploited. At the end of the day, energy efficiency is seen as a lucrative business model. The German manufacturing industry is a world champion on the international market of innovations for energy-saving measures and green products. This is a position they fully intend to keep.
OTTAWA, ONTARIO – October 20, 2016 – Thermal Energy International Inc. (“Thermal Energy” or the “Company”) (TSXV: TMG), a global provider of proprietary energy efficiency solutions to the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors, today announced its financial results for the three-month period ended August 31, 2016. All figures are in Canadian dollars.
Highlights:
“Despite lower revenue for the quarter, our gross profit increased significantly and we have a robust order backlog of $7.8 million. Since the beginning of the first quarter we announced nearly $2.5 million in hospital orders, a $750 thousand heat recovery order from a global brewing company, and most recently, a $1.7 million heat recovery order from a leading ethanol producer. We also received several other smaller orders both during and subsequent to the end of the first quarter. These orders came from many different industries, including biotech and pharmaceutical, mining and resources, performance materials, textiles, food service packaging, and tire manufacturing. With two proven products that reduce both energy bills and carbon emissions, and with governments around the world taking unprecedented action with regards to climate change, we believe we are well-positioned to continue our strong track record of growth.” - William Crossland, CEO of Thermal Energy. Q1 2017 Financial Review: Revenue for the quarter was $2.1 million, representing a decrease of 16.5% compared to $2.6 million for the first quarter of last year. Despite a strong heat recovery order backlog, due to the timing of project implementation, heat recovery systems revenue decreased 55.9% as it included only the closing stages of an installation at a major hospital, as announced October 29, 2015 plus an installation at a major food producer, as announced May 3, 2016. Revenue from GEM condensate return systems increased 55.5% and included the partial conversion of a plant belonging to a Fortune 500 food and beverage company as well as revenues from the various orders mentioned in the Company’s news release dated September 20, 2016. Gross profit for the quarter was approximately $1.5 million, an increase of 32.4% compared to $1.1 million in the first quarter a year earlier. The increase was attributable to the higher proportion of GEM product sales during the most recent quarter, which resulted in gross profit as a percentage of sales increasing to 68.2% from 43.0% a year earlier. The higher gross profit combined with lower operating costs resulted in improved EBITDAS (defined as earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortization, impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets, share-based compensation expense and net write down of lease) and a smaller net loss for the quarter. EBITDAS for the quarter was $3 thousand compared with negative $401 thousand a year earlier. The Company had a net loss of $80 thousand versus a net loss of $453 thousand in the first quarter of last year. Adjusted operating cash flow (defined as net income for the period, plus items not involving cash, plus lease payments received) for the quarter was negative $79 thousand compared to negative $336 thousand a year earlier. Order and Backlog Summary On July 25, 2016, the Company announced that it had received an $840 thousand order from a multi-site hospital group to connect all four boiler plants at one of the customer’s three hospitals to an existing heat recovery system previously installed by Thermal Energy. On August 4, 2016, the Company announced it had received $1,148 thousand in orders from a hospital trust, including an $868 thousand heat recovery system at one of the trust’s hospitals and a $280 thousand GEM order for another of the trust’s hospitals. On August 8, 2016, the Company announced it had received a $750 thousand heat recovery order from one of the world’s largest beer companies. On September 14, 2016, the Company announced it had received a $500 thousand GEM order from a new hospital customer. On September 28, 2016, the Company announced it had received a $1.7 million order from a leading producer of industrial and fuel alcohols for the supply and installation of one of Thermal Energy’s proprietary FLU-ACE heat recovery systems, which will be used to heat a greenhouse being built adjacent to one of the customer’s ethanol plants. The following orders were also received during the quarter or subsequent to quarter end:
Including the above mentioned orders, the Company had an order backlog of approximately $7.8 million as at October 18, 2016, compared to $3.7 million at the same time last year. The Company includes in “order backlog” the value of projects in respect of which purchase orders have been received but have not yet been reflected as revenue in the Company’s published quarterly financial statements. About Thermal Energy International Inc. Thermal Energy International Inc. is an established global supplier of proprietary, proven energy efficiency and emissions reduction solutions to the industrial and institutional sectors. The Company saves its customers money and improve their bottom line by reducing their fuel use and cutting their carbon emissions. Customers include a large number of Fortune 500 and other leading multinational companies across a wide range of industry sectors. For more information, visit the Company website at www.thermalenergy.com and follow @GoThermalEnergy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GoThermalEnergy. Thermal Energy International Reports Revenue Growth of 82.4%; Gross Profit Up 87.3% for Fiscal 20169/20/2016 This morning, Ottawa-based cleantech company, Thermal Energy International (TSX-V: TMG) reported its fiscal 2016 year end financial results. Highlights included:
“Fiscal 2016 was a strong year for both our heat recovery and GEM businesses. Our revenue rebounded, increasing more than 82% and resulting in the second most profitable year in the history of our company. While hospitals and food and beverage customers were the largest sources of revenue for the year, we continue to see applications for, and orders from, a variety of other sectors. Additionally, as we look ahead to fiscal 2017, we have a healthy order backlog of approximately $7.3 million, up from $5.9 million a year ago.” Revenue for FY 2016 increased 82.4% to $12.4 million compared with $6.8 million in FY 2015. Sales of heat recovery systems increased by 108.0%, while sales of GEM condensate return systems increased by 57.7%.
Gross profit for the year increased 87.3% to $6.8 million compared with $3.6 million in FY 2015. The gross profit expressed as a percentage of sales was 54.8% in FY 2016 compared with 53.4% in FY 2015. EBITDAS for the year was $564 thousand compared with negative $2.0 million in the prior year, representing an improvement of $2.6 million. The Company has net income of $259 thousand for the year compared to a net loss of almost $2.2 million in FY 2015. Adjusted operating cash flow for the year was $710 thousand versus negative $1.4 million the year before. For more information on Thermal Energy, visit their website at www.thermalenergy.com and be sure to check out our special On The Radar feature here. Canadian cleantech company, Thermal Energy International (TSXV: TMG), announced a $500,000 hospital order this morning for its GEM venturi steam traps. Converting over to GEM steam traps is expected to provide the hospital with fuel and maintenance savings of approximately $282,000, resulting in a project payback of under two years. The GEM traps are also expected to reduce the hospital’s carbon emissions by 1,085 tonnes per year. >> News Release << “This is our third significant hospital order in the last eight weeks for a combined total of more than $2.4 million. Hospitals consume vast amounts of energy. Our hospital customers see the value of becoming more environmentally sustainable and seek out savings opportunities that include using energy more wisely. By implementing our energy efficiency solutions, additional resources can be reallocated for core medical services including staff and equipment, while also contributing to a healthier environment through reduced emissions.” - William Crossland, President & CEO of Thermal Energy. The increased energy efficiency and reliability of GEM steam traps mean short paybacks and permanent energy savings with no deterioration of those savings over time. The life cycle cost of the GEM steam trap is significantly lower than for conventional steam traps.
Unlike the traditional mechanical steam traps that will be replaced at the hospital, Thermal Energy’s venturi orifice designed GEM steam traps have no moving parts to wear or fail and come with a ten-year guarantee. Several case studies demonstrating the proven benefits Thermal Energy’s products have provided to hospitals can be found on the Company’s website at www.thermalenergy.com/hospitals. |
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