Jenbacher Engines For South Africa Microgrid Project
Multinational food-products company Danone SA will install Jenbacher technology at its existing power plant in Anderbolt, Boksburg, South Africa. This will empower Danone to integrate a wide selection of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as renewables and storage devices while ensuring business continuity through energy resilience and plant uptime. According to Jenbacher, the instability of the grid, the ambition to reduce carbon emissions, and the proposed return on investment motivated Danone to drive energy efficiency with combined heat and power technology while producing distributed power and heat for their industrial process.
The Jenbacher engines will operate on natural gas and can be converted to hydrogen as soon as sufficient hydrogen is available. In addition, the combined heat and power solutions will increase total efficiency and reduce costs and carbon dioxide emissions.
“Jenbacher energy solutions are an excellent fit for our 2050 net-zero carbon commitment, a key performance indicator under the Danone Impact Journey, ensuring business continuity through energy resilience,” said Kid Nkantsu, senior director for operations and design to deliver at Danone Sub-Saharan Africa. “With our frequent power supply outages, this microgrid solution will allow us to become independent from the grid, increase production uptime, and integrate various distributed energy resources including hydrogen, all while reducing our carbon footprint.”
Clarke Energy, an authorized distributor for INNIO’s Jenbacher engines, will deliver the engineering, procurement, and construction of the new microgrid facility. The facility will use two Jenbacher J616 containerized engines and the Jenbacher microgrid controller, providing a total capacity of 5 MWe.
“Our Jenbacher microgrid solution empowers Danone to become independent from the electricity grid supply,” said Dr. Olaf Berlien, president and chief executive officer of INNIO Group. “Their investment in our ‘Ready for H2’ technology will drive site energy efficiency and empower their pathway to net zero.”
