Partnership formed to turn oil and gas waste heat to power

Oil well along U.S. Route 6 in Railroad Valley, Nevada (source: Famartin, commons/ wikimedia)

Transitional Energy, a geothermal technology and development company, and Georgia-based ElectraTherm, Inc. announce that they have signed a Letter of Intent to partner to convert heat waste to power in the oil and gas industry. This announcement builds upon the successful pilot operation of Transitional Energy’s Sedna Sled Geothermal System earlier this year at an oilfield located in rural Nevada. That system included ElectraTherm’s Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) equipment.

The two companies had previously worked together to produce geothermal energy from an oil and gas well at an oil field in Nevada, as we had reported. Power produced from an oil and gas well operated by Grant Canyon Oil and Gas LLC was used to supply a portion of the power requirements of the oil field operations. This was also the first privately funded project to successfully produce geothermal energy at an oil site.

The oil and gas industry produces millions of megawatts of thermal energy in the form of hot oil, gas, and water from wellbores across the United States. This heat is dissipated at the surface or is cooled off with industrial chillers prior to entering pipelines. Transitional Energy is deploying a proprietary system utilizing ElecraTherm’s ORC equipment to generate power from this thermal energy.

Transitional Energy, a majority women-owned company, was founded in Colorado and is focused on developing low temperature geothermal resources from the oil and gas industry. Leveraging the team’s oilfield experience, Transitional Energy has a market ready solution for oil and gas companies looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, chill produce fluids, and power their operations with 100% renewable energy.

“We value collaboration at Transitional Energy and working more strategically with ElectraTherm will allow us to bring greater value to our customers. We believe integration of ideas will be the solution to energy insecurity and emission reductions,” said Salina Derichsweiler, CEO of Transitional Energy.

ElectraTherm provides industry leading heat recovery solutions utilizing ORC equipment along with proprietary technologies to convert sources of low temperature heat into clean electricity. Established in 2005 and supported by Bitzer SE, the world’s largest independent manufacturer of refrigeration compressors, ElectraTherm is able to continuously develop and refine ORC heat recovery solutions. Having shipped over 100 ORC systems to over 13 countries and achieving over 2 million hours of operation, they are a global leader in low-temperature waste heat recovery.

“ElectraTherm is proud to be a part of Transitional Energy’s strong value proposition to the O&G market. Using co-produced fluids to create continuous, carbon-free, renewable energy is a clear win-win for operators looking to offset their carbon footprint in a way that makes strong business sense,” said Matt Lish, Managing Director of ElectraTherm.

Source: Transitional Energy