Northern Powerhouse partner and ‘Export Champion’ Clarke Energy is looking to renewable fuels to help meet net-zero decarbonisation targets across the globe.
Since 2018, Clarke Energy has acted as one of a select group of companies chosen by the Department for International Trade to act as a Northern Powerhouse Export Champion. As an international company trading in 27 countries globally, Clarke Energy can ensure our installations meet the highest international standards and positively contribute to net-zero targets across 5 continents. Clarke Energy has already delivered over 1.5GW of renewable power across the world, with our installations providing a variety of environmental benefits to help reduce customers carbon emissions, improve energy efficiency and support resilience of supplies.
The net-zero transition presents many questions about where gas engines fit into the future of the power networks across the world. There are plans to decarbonise gas grids by changing the type of gas in the network to hydrogen and biomethane, referred to as ‘green gas’.
Hydrogen is a fuel which is well suited as an existing and future fuel for gas engines, either directly or blended with other gases. As a zero-carbon emission energy source, “green” hydrogen can be used as a fuel in gas engines to generate electricity, heat and cooling.
Clarke Energy has a number of hydrogen rich furnace gas combined heat and power (CHP) plant project references in South Africa. Gas engine business INNIO has recently reached a key hydrogen milestone, demonstrating that a 1MW Jenbacher pilot plant in Hamburg can operate with 100% natural gas, with variable hydrogen-natural gas mixtures, or with 100% hydrogen. As distributor and service provider for INNIO Jenbacher in the countries that we operate in Clarke Energy is fully prepared for the hydrogen transition. As our technical knowledge base for hydrogen projects is built up in our Knowsley headquarters, this expertise can then be further deployed to assist in entries into new international markets as and when the opportunities arise.
Clarke Energy can also offer biogas upgrading technology which cleans renewable biogas to close to 100% methane. Rather than using an engine to convert biogas into electricity and heat, instead the carbon dioxide is removed from the biogas, and the gas either injected into the gas grid, or used as a vehicle fuel. Biogas upgrading has now emerged as a large market for Clarke Energy in key territories such as France, USA and India, with some recent major project wins and other sales in the pipeline in these regions.
Clarke Energy’s core business of new and existing CHP systems also remain an essential part of the solution the journey to net-zero carbon emissions. Existing installations across the world are now able to be readily reprogrammed or upgraded to operate on a blend of renewable and/or natural gas. Even CHP gas engines fuelled by pipeline natural gas will still continue to deliver carbon savings for customers in the UK likely until the early 2030’s.