Aegis Energy Services, Inc., a provider of cogeneration technology, has announced a strategic alliance with Yanmar, a 100-year-old Japanese diesel engine and equipment manufacturer and cogeneration provider. The Aegis and YANMAR relationship will broaden the reach of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems by offering a wider product line to serve facilities of all sizes – from hotels, hospitals and residential buildings with large footprints to smaller facilities, including nursing homes and assisted living facilities, apartment complexes, boutique hotels, restaurants, and more.
“For more than 30 years, Aegis has designed, manufactured, and installed Combined Heat and Power systems equipped with world-class remote monitoring and service across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic,” said President of Aegis Energy Services, Lee Vardakas. “The alliance with Yanmar not only increases our CHP product offerings, but our geographic reach. Together, we can provide modular systems for facilities of any size to generate sustainable, clean power options that reduce energy costs and emissions on a wider scale.”
According to the United States Energy Department, CHP captures energy that would normally be lost in power generation and uses it to provide heating and cooling, making CHP 75-80 percent efficient. While most central power plants create steam as a byproduct that is then expelled as wasted heat, a CHP system captures the thermal energy that would normally be lost in power generation and uses it to provide on-site heating and cooling to factories, multi-residential housing and hospitality facilities, breweries, athletic facilities, and other applications requiring thermal load. In 2012, legislation was enacted which set a national goal for increasing CHP capacity.
“Aegis has already demonstrated a commitment to Yanmar’s cogeneration product line by successfully completing our training courses designed for these systems,” commented Arne Irwin, Energy Systems Business Unit Manager at Yanmar America. “They will be able to provide a high level of service in their market for Yanmar’s CHP products, which includes the new standard and blackout start models of the 35 kW CP35D1 that we introduced to the market at the beginning of 2016.”
While CHP technology is not new (it was invented more than 100 years ago in the U.S. by Thomas Edison to power the world’s first commercial power plant in New York City) its renaissance is fueled by the “green” or sustainability movement for the built environment.
“CHP systems offer a significant cost savings,” said Vardakas, “which is the ultimate selling point. However, this technology’s environmental benefits take savings a step further by qualifying for many state and federal financial incentives, which will bring CHP to the mainstream market.”
