Rolls-Royce has entered a contract with Tuinbouwbedrijf Marc Pittoors (T.B.M.P) BVBA, for the supply of a 7 MWe combined heat and power plant (CHP) to provide heat and power to a new tomato greenhouse in Belgium
The plant will be powered by two gas-fired gensets based on the new medium-speed Bergen B36:45L6 engine and are expected to go into operation early November 2018.
Under the new deal Marc Pittoors will use the generated electricity to power the greenhouse artificial lighting and the heat extracted from exhaust gases and engine cooling systems to heat up the facility. The cleaned engine exhaust gases will then be transferred into the greenhouse to boost the level of CO2 and to improve plant growth.
“For our tomato producing company, three factors were crucial in taking this decision: electrical efficiency (best in the current market), expertise (Rolls-Royce developed a gas engine in the early 90s and was the pioneer in lean-burn technology) and optimum heat balance (5 hectares of greenhouse space are illuminated and 3.5 hectares are not),” said Marc Pittoors, CEO of T.B.M.P.
Rolls-Royce will be supplying the complete CHP plant for this greenhouse, consisting of the power generator sets, the exhaust gas systems including a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system and heat exchangers, and the electronic control system. In total, the technology achieves efficiency rates of more than 96 per cent.
The company has many years of experience with CHP plants and has since 2005 delivered 52 CHP plants with a total installed capacity of 270 MWe for greenhouses in Holland, Belgium, Russia and the UK.
