Advanced Plasma Power touts international expansion plans

UK-based waste-to-energy firm Advanced Plasma Power (APP) is set to roll out its technology at a number of sites in Canada and south-east Europe after entering into a joint venture with clean tech private equity fund Leveraged Green Energy (LGE).

Under the terms of the deal, announced last week, the companies have agreed to expand APP's presence in new global markets with a particular focus on Canada and central and eastern Europe.

They claim to already be in talks with a number of interested parties about installing the company’s waste-to-energy technology.

APP is one of a number of firms working on waste-to-energy technologies capable of turning a wide variety of municipal and commercial wastes into synthetic gases, or syngas, that can then be burnt off to generate heat and power.

It says it has developed a highly efficient "Gasplasma" technology that uses gasification technologies and a plasma converter to heat the waste to extremely high temperatures. The process breaks down the waste to produce a hydrogen-rich gas largely free of impurities and an inert aggregate that can be used in building materials.

According to APP, the syngas can then be used to produce renewable power or create liquid fuels such as methanol that can be used in fuel cells.

LGE will invest $10m in the firm for a 10 per cent share in the business. A spokeswoman for APP said the money would mainly be used as working capital while some of the funds had been earmarked for further research and development into the optimum mixes of waste for the company's gasification process.