Rolls-Royce has announced a new line of engines that may changethe face of distributed generation. Since 1994 the automotivecompany has been conducting research to design a new generator thatwill help propel the company into the major leagues for distributedgeneration around the world.

Its Allen 5000 series, launched this month at shows in the U.K.,is 20% more efficient in producing electricity, has 35% fewer parts(making it relatively cheap to produce), has tighter emissionsstandards, greater operating flexibility and requires far lessmaintenance than any diesel engine now on the market. And thecompany plans to convert the engine to natural gas as one fuelingoption, which would enhance its adoption in the U.S.

“We think this will be the benchmark medium-speed diesel in themarketplace for many years to come,” according to Peter J. Dobbs,Rolls-Royce’s managing director of diesels. He just completed atour of the United States promoting the new engine to independentpower producers, who tend to make their home here in the states.

Advanced diesel technology is important because this type ofengine has the potential of replacing aerodynamic turbinetechnology (fueled primarily by natural gas in the U.S.) as thetechnology of choice. Just as turbine plants were dramatically lessexpensive to install than the traditional central station plants(especially coal or nuclear), internal combustion engines are thatmuch cheaper than turbines.

Rolls-Royce doesn’t publish its prices, but the INGAA foundationreports that gensets have the lowest capital costs of alldistributed technologies-about $200 to $350/kW. Dobbs says theAllen 5000 will be able to beat current prices.

The company used state-of-the-art computer imaging to design itsmotor and fuel injection system, eliminating the need for multiplecastings and shaving 26 weeks off production time. High-techmodeling also allowed the company to create a system that canachieve high fuel efficiencies and produce a minimum of pollutants,even when operating at low speeds. The result is a 12-cylinderengine that can do the work of16-18 cylinders in competitors’models.

Although diesel engines-which can run on diesel, distillate orheavy fuel oil-have greater application in third-world markets andisland nations (like the Caribbean) where gas pipelineinfrastructure is nonexistent, its use is also growing in the U.K.as a direct result of electric deregulation. Energy islands havereplaced a number of coal plants and made new transmission linesunnecessary.

In the U.K. any unit less than 50 MW can sell electricity intothe grid without belonging to the power pool. As a result, a lot ofthe 3-10 MW units, like competitors to the Allen 5000, have beenoperating on a “mid-merit” basis, which is midway between abaseload plant and a peaking unit-about 4,000 to 5,000 hours ayear.

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