Opportunities for biofuel-burning Microturbines in the European decentalised-generation Market

Duration: 2003 – 2004 ● Client: European Commission (IEE) ● WIP Role: Market uptake ● www.bioturbine.org

Microturbines are small gas turbines in an electrical power range from 30 to 200 kWe representing a new technology for heat and power generation (CHP) that can be fuelled by a large variety of gaseous and liquid biofuels.

Thereby, microturbines offer a number of advantages compared to other technologies for small-scale power generation such as:

• Fuel flexibility
• Compact size and low-weight per unit power
• Low emissions
• Low investment and maintenance cost

The main objective of this project was to assess the technical feasibility and the market potential of biofuel-driven microturbine systems for CHP applications, which is considered a short-term option to deploy this innovative, efficient technology for distributed power generation.

This project included the following activities:

• Assessment of microturbine technology and market penetration
• Overview study on biofuels market in Europe
• Assessment of applications of biofuel-burning microturbines
• Identification of market opportunities for biofuel-burning microturbines

Thereby, the aim was to contribute to the development of this efficient, environmentally-friendly technology as well as to stimulate the market penetration of liquid biofuels in Europe in the power production sector. This project was co-financed by the European Commission ALTENER Programme.