Capstone Turbine has reported an uptick in microturbine orders as a result of new interest in combined heat and power and microgrids in the United States.
“Microgrid and power resiliency demand seem to be picking up generally,” said Darren Jamison, president and CEO of the California-based microturbine manufacturer, during an earnings call webcast on November 6.
In all, the company shipped microturbines with total capacity of 12 MW in North America during the second quarter. The continent was rivaled only by Europe internationally, where Capstone made a shipment of the same size.
US customers included Oncor, a Texas utility with aggressive goals to make use of energy storage. Oncor purchased Capstone’s low-emissions natural gas-fired C65 microturbine for use in a microgrid, according to Jamison.
Capstone also reported sales of CHP products in Kansas, two of them for a microgrid demonstration project at Black & Veatch’s worldwide headquarters and two for CHP in an office building. In the Mid-Atlantic, Capstone’s distributor Infinity secured an order for 25 microturbines with a capacity of about 1.6 MW to CHP projects at commercial and industrial operations.
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The company is closely watching the New York market – and in fact held its earnings call in the state as a precursor to an investor presentation on the state’s CHP potential.
“You will see very exciting growth,” Jamison said. “We are starting to see the real traction with great support by NYSERDA [New York State Energy Research and Development Authority].”
In all for the second quarter, Capstone reported 57 percent of its shipments for use in natural resource applications, including oil and gas; 39 percent for use in energy efficiency or CHP; and 4 percent for use of renewable energy. North America accounted for 50 percent of Capstone’s market in the quarter; Europe 35 percent;. Africa 6 percent, Asia 5 percent; and Australia and rest of the world were each 2 percent.
In all, Capstone has shipped 8,000 microturbine systems worldwide.
The company’s second quarter revenue was $32.2 million and product revenue $26.7 million. It has a product backlog of $172.3 million as of September 30 compared to $175.2 million at June 30, 2014, and $149.8 million at September 30, 2013. Revenue for the second quarter was $32.2 million, compared with $23.3 million for the first quarter, and $35.3 million for the second quarter last year.
A member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Combined Heat and Power Partnership, Capstone has made a commitment to energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
