Turbine partnership

Northumberland’s New and Renewable Energy Centre (

) has teamed up with technology company Addpower to develop a low-temperature turbine that will convert waste heat into energy.

The collaboration hopes to solve the problem of losing energy as heat through a range of industrial processes.

According to Addpower, its technology is able to eliminate the problem by using low-temperature waste liquids or gases to generate electrical energy. NaREC will collaborate on the project to scale up the design of the existing 250kW prototype to a 1MW device.

Alan Walker, head of ventures at NaREC, said: ‘We are very excited by the Addpower technology and its potential applications for industry at this time. It is envisaged that a single unit will return its capital costs within a two-year period and hence would provide an extremely cost-effective solution given the current global economic conditions and environmental concerns.’

Lennart Stand, Swedish inventor of the technology, said: ‘This is a very exciting time for the Addpower technology as NaREC is a world leader in the development of new and renewable energy technologies, so the project is in very capable hands. I have been impressed by its setup and facilities and clearly it has excellent in-house expertise as well as significant contacts in the energy sector, so it is an ideal partner.’