Dall Energy Biomass System

Project Information

DEBS

Grant agreement ID: 735368

DOI

10.3030/735368

Project closed

EC signature date 16 July 2016

Start date 1 August 2016

End date 31 October 2016

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

DALL ENERGY APS
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DEBS (Dall Energy Biomass System)

Reporting period: 2016-08-01 to 2016-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The objective for the phase 1 has been to test commercial hypotheses in the market and to develop and advance the Dall Energy furnace further to implement the improvements from the prototype testing and demonstration already undertaken.
The commercial hypotheses will be tested through:
1. Premium price models targeted turnkey partners
2. Analyses of the market situation
(market segmentation, competitive analysis and go-to-market strategy)
3. Risk assessments.
Dall Energy has through the feasibility process selected and strengthen the cooperation with five potential turnkey partners and has discussed strategy for penetrating different markets.
The technical features of the Dall Energy furnace have been presented to all five potential turnkey partners. A discussion on price as well as cooperation models, implementation strategy, and product application has been discussed. The discussions include product features and potential for further application development.
The discussion and the strategy has led to several project opportunities together with the selected partners and possibilities for moving the business outside the Danish boarders.
Most of the potential partners have been to Soenderborg to see the demonstration plant in operation and to discuss with the owner of the plant. Dall Energy has only received positive feedback from the potential partner that are all very experienced companies and often marked leaders.
During the process with the potential partners and potential projects it has become clear that partnerships do not develop overnight. All potential partners would like to start with their own demonstration project before moving into more contractual relations committing them as well as Dall Energy to move in a specific direction with a certain speed. Options have to be kept open until a clear understanding of the possibilities has been achieved.
For speeding up the process of demonstration and spreading the knowledge of the Dall Energy technology as well as creating customized plants for the potential partners Dall Energy expects to apply for phase 2 support under the Horizon 2020 SME program.
The application for the support will be prepared together with one or two potential partners. Focus will be on legal barriers, development and demonstration of technology, IPR as well as dissemination

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Dall Energy has through the feasibility process strengthen the cooperation with five potential partners and has discussed strategy for penetrating different markets as well as how to cooperate.
The discussion and the strategy has led to several project opportunities together with the selected partners and possibilities for moving the business outside the Danish boarders.
Most of the potential partners have been to Soenderborg to see the plant in operation and to discuss with the owner of the plant. Dall Energy has only received positive feedback from the potential partner that are all very experienced companies and often marked leaders.
During the process with the potential partners and potential projects it has become clear that partnerships do not develop overnight. All potential partners would like to start with a demonstration project before moving into more contractual relations committing them as well as Dall Energy to move in a specific direction with a certain speed. Options have to be kept open until a clear understanding of the possibilities has been achieved.
For speeding up the process of demonstration and spreading the knowledge of the Dall Energy technology as well as creating customized plants for the potential partners Dall Energy expects to apply for phase 2 support under the Horizon 2020 SME program.
The application for the support will be prepared together with one or two potential partners.
Focus will be on legal barriers, development and demonstration of technology, IPR as well as dissemination

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Progress beyound the state of the art:
Emissions
Tougher EU emission standards especially on dust and the need for biomass fuel flexibility (not only prime wood chips) will boost the Dall Energy advantages compared with the traditional technology.
Today the dust limit is 100 mg/Nm3, However the if the flue gas is not condensed and by that “washed” then the limitation is 40 mg/Nm3 (for dry systems).
In the new EU Directive (EU) 2015/2193 there will be the following emission limits when it comes to dust:
• Plants larger than 50 MWthermal = 20 mg
• Plants between 5-50 MWthermal = 30 mg
• Plants between 1-5 MWthermal = 50 mg
The directive will be enforced from the end of 2017.
Dall Energy technology can due to its very low dust emissions comply with the regulation without adding any other filtering technologies. However, competing technologies will either have to add electro-filters or bag-filters in order to stay within the limits of the directive.
Load flexibility
The Dall Energy technology’s load flexibility is outstanding compared to conventional technology. Easy to adjust in a range going from 10 to 100% load while keeping high efficiency.
This feature is very interesting for industries using steam and with load variations (night and day) or for district heating companies that want to utilize the furnace as baseload year-round. The flexibility in load is also seen as an important factor in connection with the increased use of solar heaters especially in the Danish district heating sector.
Test are being done in Soenderborg plant in order to demonstrate the flexibility and to document the advantage of having an easy controllable process with limited use of back up boilers.

Expected potential impact:
Dall Energy has as part of their internationalization strategy been in contact with a long range of potential cooperation partners in order to test the commercial hypothesis.
Initial agreement is made with one Chinese, and three European companies, who have all visited the Dall Energy plant in Soenderborg, Denmark. An American cooperation possibility is also under development together with a Finnish company located in Montreal.
However, the nature of the biomass heating area is characterized by a long development time due to a difficult decision-making and purchasing process and in many cases a difficult local project approval practice.
Nevertheless, customization of the Dall Energy technology has been initiated in cooperation with the partners in order to bring the technology to the marked.
The customization is split in two groups:
1. Customized in order to serve a specific industrial process
2. Customized in order to simplify design and reduce cost

Cooperation strategy and project possibilities has been discussed and initial agreement about project development has been initiated with the following named turnkey partner:
1. Dalkia (France) – Projects in France
2. Semco (Denmark) – Projects in Guatemala
3. Envirotherm (Germany) – Projects in Germany
4. Great Resources CORP.PLC (China) – Projects in China
5. Pöyry (Montreal) Inc. – Projects in US

Ease of capturing vs attractiveness