On May 20 and 21, Sébastien Martin and Claude Gelard from DCT West lead the delegation in an organised trip to Jenbach in Austria. The purpose of the visit see GE’s Jenbacher reciprocating engines production facility with fifteen of growers and people from French greenhouse cogeneration projects.
Clarke Energy’s Olivier GarcÃa and Gilles Marguerat from Eiffage energy, installer and operator of engines for greenhouse cogeneration plants. The delegation was able to enter the factory and discover the site: assembly line, test etc. At the end, all of the guests learn information about research and development on engine technological developments and performance.
To conclude the day, the guests had the opportunity to visit the facility in operation and experience the full production. The growers enjoyed their experience which allowed them to visualise all the work and the rigour required for the construction of these engines.
Energy Usage in Greenhouses?
The energy created by gas engine cogeneration  systems in greenhouses can be used in various ways. The electricity can provide the power for the artificial lighting and/or be fed into the electricity grid. The heat efficiently meets the greenhouse’s requirements. In addition, the climate-relevant CO2of the engine exhaust gas serves as a fertiliser for the plants.
Benefits
- Efficiency levels up to 95%, therefore high contribution to reserve conservation and maximisation of profits
- Provides power to grid at times of maximum demand hence receiving highest power sale prices
- Time-independent supply of CO2 and heat through heat storage
- High quality CO2