Testing time for CoalSwitch(TM)

2 April 2018



Active Energy, the London quoted international biomass based renewable energy and forestry management business, has announced that the first testing of its 5 t/h CoalSwitch(TM) plant in Utah, USA, was successfully completed on 29 December 2017. The initial results met “all management expectations”, the company said.


Active Energy, the London quoted international biomass based renewable energy and forestry management business, has announced that the first testing of its 5 t/h CoalSwitch(TM) plant in Utah, USA, was successfully completed on 29 December 2017. The initial results met “all management expectations”, the company said.

The plant is now undergoing full commissioning, following which Active Energy says it will be able the to deliver commercial quantities of what it calls its “revolutionary” CoalSwitch fuel, described as a “drop-in” biomass replacement for coal, which “can be mixed in any ratio with coal fines or completely replace coal in existing coal-fired power stations, without retrofit, globally.”

The first successful firing of the full-scale reactors “proves that the technology is scalable to full commercial production and reinforces that the proven science developed represents a disruptive force for the global biomass industry”, the company believes.

The next stage, Active Energy says, will be to complete commercial orders for CoalSwitch(TM), including the first order to a full-scale coal-fired power plant in Utah.

The 5 t/h facility has been constructed on a modular basis allowing further scale-up to larger plant sizes giving greater volumes of production, which Active Energy currently expects to be no smaller than 10 t/h plants. In addition, the company’s decision to construct the entire facility in a containerised format allows for demounting and moving to other locations at short notice, meaning that CoalSwitch(TM) plants can be located near to sources of wood waste or forestry residuals wherever they may be found.

Michael Rowan Active Energy non-executive chairman said: “We are now entering the next phase of our development as we produce and deliver commercial quantities of production and receive first revenues from CoalSwitch. These are exciting times and we have already received much interest from governments and corporates alike due to CoalSwitch’s unique qualities and ability to utilise all types of cellulosic biomass (including the lowest quality forestry waste and residuals, waste wood, and other by-products from the global forestry industry) and to blend with reclaimed coal fines or burn as a standalone coal replacement.”

The company says it is “now establishing its environmental credentials and is ready to work with governments and corporations in the near future.”

CoalSwitch is described as a high-calorific, high bulk density, advanced biomass pellet behaving just like coal, albeit with all the environmental benefits of clean biomass, produced primarily from low grade forestry waste and other industrial cellulose waste products.

Unlike the current ubiquitous wood pellets seen in biomass power plants, Active Energy notes, CoalSwitch can be mixed in any ratio with coal or completely replace coal in existing unmodified coal-fired power plants, “allowing ‘dirty’ plant operators to fulfil their environmental obligations without the need for extensive retrofitting of power station plant and handling/storage infrastructure”, Active Energy says. 



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