Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • August 24, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 15 up by about five since the contract be- gan. Rajendran said R&D has asked the state to extend some of the targets. He said part of the challenge in selling the systems is that waste heat is a new market for the company. "It's a learning cycle for us to understand this market," Rajendran said. "Once this catches on, I think it's going to be great." In addition, prospective R&D cus- tomers have said they want to see an example of the unit in action. "Smaller customers may not un- derstand," he said. "They want to see something operating in the field." That could happen sooner than later if R&D secures a few deals, but if it doesn't, ThermoGen's first real test run could be the New Britain data center project, which is in development but hasn't targeted an exact debut date. Another assist from CT could help Besides R&D's 2015 state loan, Con- necticut did the company a second favor three years later, when lawmak- ers added organic rankine cycle heat recovery systems to the state's eligible list of "Class I" renewable technology. That allows ThermoGen to receive more lucrative incentives that are usually reserved for the cleanest power generators, like solar panels, and the cost is ultimately shoul- dered by electric ratepayers in a state that has some of the highest energy prices in the nation. ThermoGen only counts as a Class I renewable if it is attached to a non- electricity generating heat source, or to a renewable electricity genera- tor like solar, wind or fuel cells. If ThermoGen is drawing its heat from a fossil fuel generator — such as a manufacturer's on-site turbine — it counts as Class III renewable technology, which produces less valuable credits. There's a significant number of on- site turbines at industrial and com- mercial facilities around the state — more than 1,000, by Rinebold's count — but the Class III incentives make ThermoGen a tougher sell, even though Agrawal says the economics of the systems pencil out regardless. Tapping CCAT's technical exper- tise, R&D wants to convince lawmak- ers that its system should receive Class I status for using waste heat from fossil fuel generation sources. "I'd like to see it classified as a Class I anywhere, anyhow, because I like the idea of being able to have any additional power used," Rinebold said. "It won't use additional fuel or produce any additional emissions." If R&D can convince policymak- ers, Rinebold estimates that it would mean a market opportunity of up to 50 megawatts for heat recovery systems like ThermoGen. It's not going to change the world, but it is significant, especially be- cause organic rankine cycle, unlike wind and solar, is not dependent on weather conditions and can there- fore generate power the vast major- ity of the time. "It's not something that will replace big generators, but what it could do is give everyone a 10% ener- gy savings," Rinebold said. "It would reduce damage to the environment and we'd get the jobs out of this." There are approximately 200 lo- cal suppliers involved in producing ThermoGen technology, according to Rajendran, so there would be an economic ripple effect if production ramps up. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which has sought to walk a fine line when it comes to incentivizing fossil fuel gen- eration, did not respond to a request for comment for this story. R&D's 200-kilowatt ThermoGen system. This unit is inside R&D's 85,000-square- foot Bloomfield headquarters. A major fuel cell project planned for New Britain intends to use seven of the units. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Hartford Region PLEASE JOIN US YWCA HARTFORD REGION In the Virtual Company of Women: Years of Inspiration Wednesday, September 9, 2020 12:00 p.m. TOGETHER WE'RE UNLIMITED TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKET VISIT https://one.bidpal.net/ywca2020/welcome Or Text the phrase YWCA2020 to the number 243725 to register from your phone. Questions please contact Karol Jimenez KarolJ@ywcahartford.org or call 860.525.1163 ext 122 A Conversation with CECILE RICHARDS Women's Rights Advocate, Co-Founder, Supermajority Presenting Media Sponsor Media Sponsors KAMAN | Shipman & Goodwin, LLP | Trinity College | Barnes Group, Inc. | blumshapiro | Connecticut Convergence Institute | Hartford Hospital | MDC | United Way of Central and Northeaster Connecticut | Willis Towers Watson THIS EVENT IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH SUPPORT FROM THE FOLLOWING SPONSORS:

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