Cirque Energy, Inc. announced the signing of a development agreement for a project to install a 2.5 megawatt (MW) biomass gasification power plant to be known as the Midland Biomass Energy Station (MBES) in Midland, Texas. The project will be developed in conjunction with ReCom Operating Partners. Cirque Energy will install, operate and maintain the plant, which is expected to be operational by the end of the first quarter of 2015.

The MBES will sell the renewable electricity generated by the project through the deregulated Texas utility market under a multi-year power purchase agreement. Cirque Energy is working in partnership with Northrop Grumman Corporation to bring to market a Deployable Gasification Unit (DGU) that can use solid waste to provide fuel or supplement traditional fuels used to generate combined heat and power (CHP). For the MBES project, four DGUs will work in parallel to process the urban wood waste to generate clean, renewable electrical energy.

Small-scale gasifiers using pure biomass (i.e. ground wood, wood pellets, etc.) are not new or unique. The DGU however will be able to use more difficult fuels which could include combinations of typical garbage/MSW, waste wood, dunnage, cardboard, plastics, mixed paper, food wastes, etc. Traditionally, some waste fuels have been difficult to burn because of the release of contaminates into the air.

Much of the waste currently going to landfills are carbon based and have a high heat content that when treated or processed properly can be converted to energy. Quite simply, the DGU has the potential to revolutionize the waste industry by reducing the volume of material being shipped to landfills, and, at the same time, producing a clean, reliable form of renewable energy. By focusing on these fuels, Cirque Energy's gasifier and gas cleanup technology has been designed to generate a clean syngas that can be co-fired in conventional diesel or natural gas internal combustion CHP engines.

With sufficient supply of waste material, a commercial or industrial facility can expect to replace up to 70% of the fossil fuel consumption to power CHP engines. This effectively provides 70% of their CHP energy for free, while also eliminating a significant portion of their waste disposal expenses.