Corac deal to advance gas-pressure electricity technology

London `- Corac Energy Technologies (CET) has signed a deal with corporate partners in the UK and US to develop an electricity generation system using waste energy in the gas transmission network.

The partner-funded project aims produce a prototype system that generates electrical energy when high pressure gas in the main transmission network is let down to lower pressures for industrial and domestic supply.

The market opportunity for this development is significant as there are several thousand pressure let-down points in the mainland US transmission network alone, each of which has the potential to generate a local electricity supply.

Until now, the energy released by the reduction in pressure has been largely wasted.

The system shares core patented technology with CET’s gas compressor systems, and sits alongside Corac’s other development activities in industrial turbomachines.

This partnership is further evidence of the tangible progress that CET is making towards delivering commercial products, according to Phil Cartmell, chairman of Corac.

“It takes us into a new technology development in significant new markets and applications,” said Cartmell. “Extending the use of our core technologies into low-carbon energy generation shows that our capabilities are transferable into uses that complement our traditional gas compression systems.”