IVITAS has just expanded their offer of energy generation services with the launch of IVITAS GREEN POWER, which is a new IVITAS company that focuses on ecological power generation projects with reduced emissions. Leading the new IVITAS green team is Peter Machej, a highly experienced mechanical engineer and long-time devotee to renewable energy.

We recently spoke with Peter to learn more about him and gain detailed information about the services provided by IVITAS GREEN POWER.

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself, your education and your professional experience?

After graduating from the university (Mechanical Engineering at VSB – Technical University of Ostrava), I started my professional career in an underground mine. I then moved to the private sector and started my commercial activities, where I worked in different industries and positions on the international market (50 countries on 4 continents) for almost 30 years. For the past 15 years, I’ve been focused on the EPC energy industry (engineering, procurement and construction of mainly “green” power plants).

2. Why did you decide to work for IVITAS?

I’m fascinated by all types of renewable energy. IVITAS, as an experienced engineering company in the energy sector, opened a new company – IVITAS GREEN POWER and I have the pleasure of helping bring it to life. The owner of IVITAS and I are defining the company’s strategy, which includes important support from the experienced IVITAS design and engineering teams. It will be a challenge, but I’m looking forward to it.

3. Are there any projects you have worked on in the past that really stand out?

The largest project I’ve worked on was construction of a 450 MW combined cycle gas-steam power plant (CCGT) in Poland, where I was the lead.  At the time, it was the biggest gas-fired power plant in Poland, with a project cost of 270 million EUR.

I also worked on a significant project while serving as a representative for the multinational company Abengoa, which is based in Spain. I led a team of specialists for the commercial side of the tender and was responsible for all communication between the Polish client and the Spanish team. After two long years, Abengoa won the tender and signed the contract. Soon afterwards, Abengoa established a Polish branch of the company and named me as its CEO.

4. You're the Commerical Director of IVITAS GREEN POWER, which has just been launched. Can you tell us more about the focus of its activities?

The meaning of "GREEN POWER" is clear, but its focus is not only on all types of renewable energy sources (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass, etc.). It also concentrates on many kinds of ecological projects. All of these energy sources help to reduce emissions, and in some cases, even use waste as an energy source. 

Another area is energy storage, which can be used with many energy generation activities - conventional, renewable, and even nuclear.

Lastly is hydrogen, which is very important. Production of hydrogen is currently expensive, but it’s the future. The only byproduct when it's burned is water or steam. Hydrogen can be burned directly, such as pure hydrogen or mixed with natural gas, but can also be used as energy storage.

5. IVITAS has recently become a distributor in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland for CAPSTONE GREEN ENERGY, which is an American manufacturer of microturbines. Can you provide a short overview of their products and how could they be used in IVITAS GREEN POWER projects?

Sure. Microturbines can operate on natural gas, as well as many other gases, which can be considered “green”. The other gases include methane, such as from old coal mines, biogas from animal/vegetable production, waste water plants, etc., and waste gases, like industrial gases from factories, such as steel plants. Microturbines can also burn a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen, up to 70%, which can help to significantly reduce emissions.

CAPSTONE has 65 kW, 200 kW, 600 kW and 1000 kW (1MW) gas turbine product lines, which can be installed in parallel. Although microturbine systems require a slightly larger investment compared to conventional energy generation solutions, their operational and maintenance costs are much lower, which help to provide a return on investment within 2-3 years. Emissions from these systems are also much lower compared to other technical solutions of a similar size.

What was surprising for me is that CAPSTONE turbines run extremely fast. In fact, up to 80,000 RPM, which is faster than a dentist’s drill!. But even at these astronomical speeds, they can operate non-stop for several years at a time. They run on “air bearings”, which require no lubrication, and have extremely clean exhaust gases that can even be used for food production, such as drying food. In fact, exhaust gases from CAPSTONE turbines contain about the same amount of oxygen as the air that’s exchanged during mouth to mouth resuscitation. Exciting, isn’t it? The exhaust gases can also be used as energy, such as routing to a heat exchanger, for heating water or producing steam, or to a cooling unit.

The deep well of energy generation know-how and decades of experience of IVITAS GREEN POWER allow them to implement a microturbine as part of a complete energy generation solution. Some examples would be cogeneration, which uses exhaust gas from the turbine during electricity production to produce heat in the form of hot water or steam, or even trigeneration for the production of electricity, heat and cold.

6. What type of companies could benefit from the products and services offered by IVITAS GREEN POWER?

In general, any small to medium-sized company or facility that needs energy, from hundreds of kilowatts to megawatts, and/or requires a reduction in emissions. CAPSTONE microturbines can be an attractive solution for smaller consumers that need an economically attractive source of energy for hundreds of kilowatts or clean exhaust gases for food production.

So-called „distributed energy generation“ is another way for increasing energy efficiency, due to the elimination of distribution loses. Microturbines can start up very quickly, which allows the client to turn the microturbine on several seconds before starting their machines or supplying energy to consumers, and turn it off when they stop their machines. So apart from its positive ecological effects, the client does not pay for energy that was not received (distribution loses) or energy that was not consumed (flexibility in turning on/off).  Maintenance requests are also reduced to an absolute minimum compared to gas engines, for example.

Another example is apartment building associations that need the microturbine for heating water throughout the year, heating apartments during the winter and producing electricity. Any excess electricity produced could be sold to the grid, thereby contributing to an earlier return on investment.

But microturbines are not our only product. We will also offer all types of “ecological” solutions for a wide range of power plants, which could or could not include a microturbine system.

7. How do you see IVITAS GREEN POWER developing in the future?

At the start, we will focus on “ecological” energy generation solutions and the implementation of CAPSTONE microturbines in relevant projects. In time, we will increase our scope of activities. But growth must be gradual and logical.

It will be important for us to inform the market that we are here with “green” solutions for their energy production needs and build interest in the economically viable solutions we can provide. We should also educate our target audience on the value of microturbines and put teams in place that will design and install those products, as well as ensure maintenance services.

The market is already aware that IVITAS is a professional and highly experienced partner that provides a full scope of design and engineering services. It is now my job to get the message out that their scope of services has now been further increased with the launching of IVITAS GREEN POWER, which includes hydrogen and energy storage. I'm really excited about the future of the company and will do my best to ensure its success.