Electrifying Oil and Gas Operations: Capstone Upgrading Microturbines at Chilean Refinery
Key Highlights
- Capstone Energy+ is upgrading its microturbine capacity at Chile's Gregorio refinery to improve reliability and efficiency in extreme weather conditions.
- The company has shipped over 10,000 microturbines worldwide, serving industries such as energy, hospitality, and manufacturing.
- Recent projects include orders in Utah, North Carolina, and Brazil, demonstrating global market expansion.
Behind-the-meter microturbine maker Capstone Energy+ is expanding its on-site electrical power capacity for an oil-and-gas refinery customer in Chile.
The company received an order for its Capstone C800 Signature Series microturbine powering operations at Chile’s state-owned Empressa National del Petroleo (ENAP) southernmost Gregorio refinery. The new order expands capacity from 1.4 MW to 2.2 MW with the microturbine upgrade.
Capstone Energy+, formerly known as Capstone Green Energy, supplies on-site power solutions for energy, hospitality, food and agriculture, data centers and industrial manufacturing customers. It has shipped more than 10,000 units worldwide, mainly built around its core products of 30-kW, 65-kW and 200-kW microturbines.
The microturbine is a single-shaft power generation turbine which operates in a Brayton thermodynamic cycle to generate electricity and decarbonize on-site customer operations. This year alone, Capstone has gained orders for projects in Utah, North Carolina and Brazil.
The Gregorio Refinery processes more than 200,000 cubic meters of crude oil annually and supplies fuels critical to maritime, aviation, and Antarctic operations in Chile’s Magallanes region. Temperatures can range from extremely windy to below freezing.
“ENAP required reliable power generation at a critical refinery operating in one of the most extreme environments on earth but doing so while also reducing emissions and operating costs,” said Cristian Balic, principal at ISPG, Capstone’s authorized distributor in Chile, in a statement. “The existing Capstone installation has answered that challenge decisively, delivering strong operational performance while helping address load variability, lower maintenance requirements, and achieve efficiency objectives. This follow-on order reflects ENAP’s continued confidence in Capstone’s ability to support its refinery’s evolving energy needs.”
Capstone’s transformation in name and financial standing also culminated recently with the company’s entry into the NASDAQ Global Select stock trading market this month. The move into NASDAQ followed a time when Capstone Green Energy Holdings was trading on the OTCQX index which is the highest tier of the OTC “over the counter’ markets.
“Returning to trading on the Nasdaq marks a significant milestone for Capstone Energy+ and reflects the financial and operational progress our team has made over the past two years,” said Vince Canino, president and CEO of Capstone Energy+. “During this time, we have strengthened our financial foundation, simplified our capital structure, and returned the Company to profitability. Capstone has evolved into a broader energy solutions company focused on delivering reliable, behind-the-meter power.”
In 2023, Capstone Green Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection aimed at reorganization and re-emergence into public markets. It emerged out of Chapter 11 only a few months later.
Since then, the company has completed several on-site power projects and strengthened its capital structure with a $112.5 million strategic investment. It was renamed Capstone Energy+ two months ago.
Under the ticker symbol CEPL, Capstone was trading at $11.01 a share Tuesday morning on the NasdaqGM.
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About the Author
Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor
Managing Editor
For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].
Rod Walton has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World.
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.