The future is uncertain for IPG Energy – a regular star of our EnviroTech 50 ranking – after a technical blow halted its ability to commercialise its tech.
The London firm has developed Flameless Combustion technology – backed by academic institutions, government agencies and pioneering manufacturing and commercial partners – which delivers pollutant-free power from any fuel.
Each of IPG Energy’s generators, available in 50 or 100 kilowatt modules, were housed in what looks like a shipping container. It was hoped that they would enable some of the world’s most polluting industries to switch to renewable fuels quickly with full energy security.
However CEO Toby Gill, who joined as a business development analyst in 2017 and moved through the ranks to become CEO in 2020, wrote on its website that in recent testing, it encountered an “unforeseen engineering challenge”.
“While Flameless Combustion was successfully demonstrated across multiple fuels, further analysis confirmed that greater-than-modelled pressure losses across the valves of our Heat Regenerator system have significantly reduced performance,” he said.
“In the current configuration, this limits overall system performance and means the unit is not yet ready for deployment with pilot customers.
“The pathway to resolving this challenge is understood. However, completing the next stage of engineering requires additional time and capital to undertake system redesign and validation. Despite extensive discussions with investors and strategic partners, we have not been able to secure the funding required within our remaining runway to progress through this next phase of development.
“In light of this, the board has taken the decision to scale back the focus of the business. We will no longer be pursuing the commercialisation of our generator product and will instead concentrate on the underlying Flameless Combustion technology.
“As part of this transition, the company will no longer maintain an operational team and will focus on how the technology can be taken forward through third parties.”
Gill said that a year ago, the company was in a strong position.
“We had taken fuel-flexible power from an unknown concept to a credible decarbonisation strategy for some of Europe’s largest construction companies and other hard-to-abate sectors, with a growing pipeline of early adopters preparing to pilot the technology.
“Alongside that, we had a well-defined, albeit ambitious, engineering roadmap to deliver a commercially deployable product into the hands of those customers.
“To achieve this, our focus was on expanding real-world validation of the pollutant-free, fuel-agnostic capability of our Flameless Combustion technology, while addressing key challenges required to translate this into a commercially viable generator.
“These included limitations in scaling the ceramic turbine supply chain cost-effectively, and reliability issues within the high-temperature valves of our Heat Regenerator system, all while continuing to strengthen our market position and grow customer commitment.
“Following a leadership restructure, with myself and Alex Anderson (COO) taking the lead on product development and Lauren Franklin stepping into the CCO role full-time, we made significant progress over a nine-month period. We validated pollutant-free, fuel-agnostic operation across a range of gaseous and liquid fuels, including emerging green fuels.
“We transitioned to an off-the-shelf e-turbocharger architecture through a global Tier-1 supplier, removing a key supply chain constraint. We advanced integration of hybrid system capability to improve customer value, and continued to build strong commercial momentum across construction and adjacent sectors.
“Over the course of IPG Energy’s journey, we have done more than develop a new technology. We have helped shape how diesel-reliant sectors think about decarbonisation.
“We are disappointed not to have completed the final stage of the technical journey. At the same time, we remain proud of the progress made and deeply grateful to our team, customers, partners and investors for their belief and commitment.”
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