07/07/2016 AnalysisoftheOrganicRankineCyclemarket

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Overview
By Thomas Tartire (http://ca.linkedin.com/in/thomastartiere). Last update : January
22th,2016

Introduction
Currentsituation
Totalinstalledcapacity
Geographicalbreakdown
HeatRecoveryApplications
Conclusion
Disclaimer

Introduction
The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology is a way to convert heat into
electricity. Its main applications are distributed electricity generation from
renewable heat sources (geothermal, biomass, solar) and industrial energy
efficiency(heatrecoveryfromindustrialprocesses).

ThisreportgivesanoverviewoftheinstalledORCcapacityovertheyearsfor
differentmarkets,allovertheworld.Thedatacomesfromthewebsitesandlist
of references of ORC manufacturers. When possible, multiple sources (press
articles,scientificpapers)havebeencompared.

ThefollowingORCmanufacturershavebeenincluded:

ABB(http://www.abb.com/)
Adoratec/Maxxtec
(http://www.adoratec.com/companyprofilnav.html)
BEPERational(http://erational.net/)
Enertime(http://www.enertime.com/en/home)
ENEX(http://www.enex.is)
Exergy(http://www.exergyorc.com/)
Electratherm(https://electratherm.com/)
GeneralElectric
(http://powergen.gepower.com/applications/chp.html)
GMK(http://www.gmk.info/)
JohnsonControl(http://www.johnsoncontrols.com/)
Kaishan(http://www.kaishancompressor.com/Industry
Products/ScrewExpanderPowerStations/OrganicRankineCycle
PowerPlantExpansionScrew/OrganicRankineCyclePowerPlant
ExpansionScrew.html)
OpconEnergySystems(http://www.opcon.se/web/oes_en.aspx)
ORMAT(http://www.ormat.com)
TAS(http://www.tas.com/)
TMEIC(http://www.tmeic.com/TMEIC%20Global)
Triogen(http://www.triogen.nl/)
Turboden(http://www.turboden.eu/en/home/index.php)
UTCPower(http://www.pw.utc.com/Press/Story/20121017
1200/2012/All%20Categories)

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gTEnergyTechnologies(http://www.gtet.com/)

In addition there are other manufacturers that have not published their list of
references and declined to take part to the survey. Therefore this work does
notpretendtobeexhaustive,evenifmostoftheORCpowerplantshavebeen
takenintoaccount.

This survey aims at presenting the progress of the ORC technology over the
last decades, for commercial applications. Therefore, labscale prototypes
have not been included. In addition, references with total installed capacity
lowerthan50kWelhavebeendiscounted.Wehaveconsideredthatbelowthis
thresholdthetechnologiesusedaredifferentandinvolvedifferentstakeholders
andmarkets.

Currentsituation
Totalinstalledcapacity:2749.1MWel,in563powerplants
Newcapacityplanned:523.6MWelin75plants

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Geothermal power plants contribute to 76.5% of all ORC installed capacity in

the world. Biomass follows with 10.7%. Heat recovery from gas turbines
(compressorstationsalongpipelines)andstationaryDieselpowerplantshasa
similar share with 8.5%. All other heat recovery applications represent 4.2%,
whilesolarthermodynamicremainsneglectible.

ORMATistheworldleaderforthetotalinstalledcapacity(65.7%),followedby
theItaliancompaniesTurboden(12.6%)andExergy(9.8%).

InstalledCapacityovertheyears
The following figures give the installed capacity and number of projects that
werecommissionedperyearandperapplication.

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Themarketpeakedin2013,with325.5MWelofnewcapacity.Sincethen,we
cannoticeaslodownin2014and2015,withroughly250MWelbeinginstalled
eachyear.Thismaybeduetoadeclineingeothermalapplications,relatedto
low natural gas prices and competition against solar and wind (especially on
theUSmarket).Theheatrecoverymarkethasgrownsignificantlyoverthelast
threeyears,from14.5MWin2013to116.8MWin2015.

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Geographicalbreakdown

The United States has the largest installed capacity per country, followed by
Turkey, New Zealand, and the Philippines. These four countries benefit from
abundantgeothermalresources.GermanyandItalyarethemostsignificantfor

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biomass,mainlyduetofavorablepolicies,followedbyCanadaandAustria.The
biggestsharesforheatrecoveryareintheUSAandCanada,mainlyforwaste
heatrecoveryfromcompressorstationsalonggaspipelines.

Thefollowingfigureslookonlyatprojectsthatwerecommissionedin2015or
have been planned. Of course, all new projects for 20162017 haven't been
announced, but we can see that most of the new geothermal development is
focusedonTurkey,with9newprojects.ThelargeshareofIndonesiaiscaused
by a single new 330 MWel ORMAT project in Indonesia
(http://www.ormat.com/news/latestitems/sarullaconsortiumsigns117billion
financingagreements330mwsarullageotherma). Biomass development
continues in Italy, Russia, Canada and the United Kingdom. However, the
average size of biomass ORC installed in Italy is below 1 MWel, while new
plants in Canada and Russia have an average power output above 4 MWel,
mostlyforsawmills.

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HeatRecoveryapplications

With 349.1 MWel of installed capacity in the world, and 18.5 MW of new
capacity in construction (10 projects), the heat recovery market is still at an
early stage but has long passed the demo/prototype phase. The main
application is waste heat recovery from Diesel engines or gas turbines, with
66.8% of the installed capacity (41 projects). These units are mostly installed
oncompressorstationsalonggaspipeline,oronDieselpowerplants.Cement
& lime plants are the first industrial application, with 10 projects and a total

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installedpowerof29MWel.WastetoEnergy(incineration)andmetalindustries
(steel,aluminum,foundries...),havesimilarshareswithrespectively12and24
projects.

Theinstalledcapacityforcement,metalandglassindustriesisstillverysmall
comparedtoitspotential,asstatedinmanystudies:

WasteHeattoPowerpotentialintheUSA,reportfromOakRidge
NationalLaboratory,2015
(http://web.ornl.gov/sci/buildings/docs/ORNL%20TM2014
620%20Waste%20Heat%20to%20Power.pdf)
WasteHeatRecoverypotentialinChina,reportfromBerkeleyNational
Laboratory,2015(https://china.lbl.gov/sites/all/files/lbnl179618.pdf)
ORCWasteHeatRecoveryinEuropeanEnergyIntensiveindustries,
2013
(http://www.hreii.eu/public/Annex%204.2.II%20EU%20paper%20def.pdf)

Biogas and landfill gas engines together account for 6.2 MWel of installed
capacitywithin35projects.Pleasenotethatprojectsbelow50kWelhavebeen
ignored.

Conclusion
This survey shows the development of the ORC technology over the last
decades.Withoutpretendingtobeexhaustive,mostoftheprojectsinstalledin
theworldhavebeentakenintoaccount.Geothermalpowerplantsarestillthe
main applications in terms of power output, but the last year have seen an
increaseinbiomassandheatrecoveryapplications.

Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes
only. While the author endeavours to keep the information up to date and
correct, the author makes no representations or warranties of any kind,
express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or
availabilitywithrespecttothewebsiteortheinformation,products,services,or
related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you
placeonsuchinformationisthereforestrictlyatyourownrisk.

Innoeventtheauthorwillwebeliableforanylossordamageincludingwithout
limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage
whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection
with,theuseofthiswebsite.

AprojectbyThomasTartire(http://ca.linkedin.com/in/thomastartiere)2015

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