Pressure wins deal for £4.2m energy project

The Sheffield-based firm, which saw a 169 per cent increase in share price in 2013 making it Yorkshire’s best performing major stock, said the project is the largest of any so far announced or currently operating in the UK.

The firm said the deal will be central to a groundbreaking UK renewable energy project.

The company’s Chesterfield Biogas division will supply gas-scrubbing water-wash upgraders and other equipment to the site in Scotland, which will be the first facility of its kind north of the border when it is commissioned in late 2014.

Raw biogas, which will be derived from the anaerobic digestion of used up grains from a distilling process, will be converted into biomethane suitable for use in the national gas grid.

As a result of the large amounts of raw biogas expected from the project, upgrading units will need to be coupled in parallel to produce an output of up to 5,000 cubic metres per hour of 98 per cent pure biomethane, the purity criteria required for natural gas piped into household and commercial premises.

The service elements of the contract include a three-year warranty, a guarantee of 98 per cent system availability and a monthly site visit by a Chesterfield Biogas engineer.

The firm said that its Greenlane water-wash process has proved its effectiveness over the last 20 years and requires no heat or chemicals, just water which can be re- cycled.

It added that more then 75 sites are operating successfully around the world.

When the project is completed in late 2014, Chesterfield Biogas will have six systems installed in the UK – more than all of its rivals put together.

Last August, Chesterfield Biogas announced two orders for upgraders in the same model range, worth £4.6m in total.

The Widnes site of ReFood UK will handle commercial food waste and the FLI Energy project in Suffolk will use energy crops and vegetable wastes.

Both are due for completion in the current financial year.

The company said that taken together, the three projects demonstrate the versatility of the system in processing gas from diverse organic feedstocks.

Chesterfield Biogas’s managing director, Stephen McCulloch, said: “We believe that the order stream we are now experiencing, with diverse customers in different sectors, validates our outlook that creating a successful and sustainable business requires more than financial acumen.

“Our company places great importance not only on what we do, but how we do it.”

Pressure Technologies said the pipeline for its Alternative Energy Division is strong.

It added that negotiations are at an advanced stage on other projects, which may result in additional contracts being secu- red.

It said sales from these new contracts will benefit either the second half of the current financial year or the first half of the 2015 financial year.

The group said this gives the board grounds for “significant optimism” for the division.

Analyst Richard Hickinbotham, at Charles Stanley, said: “This is the largest order that has been announced by Chesterfield Biogas to date and it will also be the largest project operating in the UK.

“Management also highlight that Chesterfield Biogas’ pipeline is strong, with negotiations at an advanced stage on further projects. Today’s order accounts for almost half of our maintained 2015 revenue forecast for Chesterfield Biogas.”

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