Tecogen has sold two 200-ton Tecochill chillers for a new cannabis cultivation facility located in Massachusetts. The chillers will provide cooling for the facility using inexpensive natural gas, with the free waste heat utilized for dehumidification. A maintenance contract is expected to be executed once the units are installed later this year and will be serviced out of Tecogen’s Waltham factory service center.
The Tecochill system is expected to reduce the facility’s cooling costs by almost 50% when compared to traditional electric chillers. In addition to energy cost savings, the Tecochill solution also provides a substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction for the facility, as the efficiency of the Tecochill combined heat and power system is significantly higher than a typical electric utility. Reducing a facility’s carbon footprint is an important consideration for cannabis cultivation owners when considering compliance with state GHG reduction targets. Because the Tecochill system runs on natural gas it does not rely on the electric grid to operate and provides additional resiliency to grid outages by reducing the size of back-up generation systems required to keep the facility operational. This is a particularly important consideration for cultivation facilities producing a high value crop in areas that may be susceptible to weather related power outages.
“Reducing energy costs is extremely important for cannabis growers in an increasingly competitive market,” noted Stephen Lafaille, Director of Business Development at Tecogen. “The high operating costs for traditional electric chillers is problematic for growers. The Tecochill solution provides long-term savings that far outweigh the low initial capital costs of electric chillers. Our decades of proven Tecochill performance combined with our strong factory service support team with real-time remote monitoring allows us to achieve the expected uptime targets in critical process cooling applications.”
Tecogen has provided Tecochill chillers for 15 Massachusetts cannabis cultivation facilities, providing significant cost savings and greenhouse gas benefits when compared to traditional electric chillers. Many facilities are also eligible for energy efficiency incentives from local utilities for achieving efficiency goals, thereby reducing the capital cost to install equipment providing efficient gas cooling.
“This is our 36th Tecochill sold in the North American indoor cannabis cultivation industry, with more projects in our backlog,” added Benjamin Locke, Tecogen CEO. “The Tecochill solution provides compelling operational cost savings and grid resiliency similar to a traditional cogeneration system but at a much lower capital cost. We expect that recent approvals for recreational cannabis use in several states, including New Jersey, creates opportunities for Tecogen to support cultivators seeking to reduce their operational costs and improve resiliency to grid outages while reducing their GHG footprint.”
For more information:
Tecogen
Tecogen, Inc.
45 First Avenue
Waltham, MA 02451
781-466-6400
Toll Free: 800-678-0550
Fax: 781-466-6466
products@tecogen.com
tecogen.com