Italian organic rankine cycle (ORC) turbines manufacturer Exergy has begun operations at a new 4MW low enthalpy geothermal plant in Turkey’s Denizli region.
The company has successfully completed ORC binary installation, making the Akca plant the world’s first facility to be equipped with a 2-pressure-level cycle on a single-disk turbine.
The turbine design enables the plant to generate up to 20% more electricity than competitors, using a single pressure level system. The plant will be operated by Akça Enerji.
Exergy CEO Claudio Spadacini said: "This project, representing a milestone in the Exergy portfolio, is the outcome of the technical strength and combined effort of Exergy’s talented team.
"Moreover, it confirms once more the competitiveness and validity of our Radial Outflow Turbine technology to provide higher efficiency and its flexibility to adapt to diverse conditions.
"Thanks to our technology, our client Akça will benefit from a new source of energy in a more efficient and profitable way."
Performance tests conducted on the plant had indicated very high turbine efficiency, over 5% more than the guaranteed figures provided to the customer.
The new binary plant configuration is expected to increase the feasibility of low-enthalpy 3-8MW range plants down to 100°C and also open up new possibilities for Exergy clients to exploit low enthalpy small resources more efficiently and economically than ever before, the firm said.