Ultra Green Waste Management to provide clean energy in Brazil
UK clean tech company Ultra Green is to sign a contract to lease mobile waste to energy units for Brazil
The deal is part of a long term programme that could be worth over £500 million and could make Brazil the most advanced waste conversion country in the Western hemisphere.
In addition to cornering the Brazilian market, Ultra Green also plans to roll out this business concept globally.
The first units to be supplied will be self-contained “plug and play” systems in modified 40 foot containers that produce 500kW of electricity from 0.5 tonnes per hour of mixed solid waste.
The deal was signed with Brazil Energy giant A&G Energia and the two firms are planning to form joint venture company Ultra Green Energia do Brasil. The collaboration will initially see units imported, with plans for Brazilian manufacturing in the pipeline.
The mobile plants are to be lease hired to a variety of interests from plantation owners to small villages. Ultra Green believes that the units will be particularly useful in remote locations such as sugar plantations, where waste can be used to generate power instead of diesel generators.
Ultra Green CEO David Weaver said: “These units are particularly valuable for use in areas where there is no power, but are equally effective in processing most kinds of organic waste from Municipal solid waste through bio mass to medical and toxic waste. I believe we are the first company in the world to offer mobile waste to energy plants commercially and the first to offer them on a flexible lease contract similar to that used in the hire of diesel generators and the lease of aircraft engines. In most cases our systems are much cheaper to operate than fossil fuel generator units and have the added advantage that they consume waste products instead of high value scarce resources such as hydro carbon fuels.
"The joint venture deal represents the first phase of the programme with A&G, as we intend to build much larger plants in cities, and alongside power stations throughout Brazil. We can also convert sugar cane pulp waste to bio-diesel and add a further layer of efficiency”
Unlike diesel generators, the units set to be deployed in Brazil emit very low emissions. Ultra Green has harnessed pyrolysis technology in its own proprietary unit to convert waste to gas, so no combustion takes place, significantly reducing emissions.
Ultra Green engineers and researchers have designed these and other technologies as part of an ambitious programme to turn waste from a problem to a resource.
The company is currently working on a township model that creates no excess waste and runs on a low cost sewage to energy system, cutting out the need for external electricity.