Gas

ESG plans second gas-fired plant with CO2 capture in Massachusetts

Developer ESG Clean Energy plans to build a second gas-fired plant in Massachusetts that will be equipped with carbon capture.
ESG plans second gas-fired plant with CO2 capture in Massachusetts

Developer ESG Clean Energy plans to build a second gas-fired plant in Massachusetts that will be equipped with carbon capture.

ESG inked a deal with Holyoke Gas & Electric to build the 4.2 MW plant, expected to be powered by Caterpillar engines, with the company’s CCS system built and installed around it. Project financing would be provided by Colliers Funding, LLC.

ESG’s first project, also in Holyoke, Massachusetts, is now generating 3.9 MW of electricity also using two Caterpillar engines. A spokesperson with the company told us the system that withdraws and produces distilled water at that plant is expected to be up and running within the month, and the carbon capture system being installed right after that. 

In March 2022 ESG acquired a patent for its bottoming cycle power system which includes the invention of an “exhaust-gas-to-exhaust-gas heat exchanger” that cools – and then reheats – exhaust from a primary power generator so greater energy output can be achieved by a secondary power source with safe ventilation.

During the process, high temperature exhaust or waste heat from the generator passes through the inverted Brayton cycle procedure to a water removal system, which extracts the water and sends the resulting dry exhaust back through the inverted Brayton cycle. From there that dry exhaust is received in ESG’s carbon dioxide capture system where it’s stored or mixed with other material for additional uses. Meanwhile, the extracted water flows to a water distillation system.

The company says it can capture nearly 100% of the CO2 during the process.