Atlas Copco Wins Major Order for American Geothermal Industry

Sept. 28, 2007
Atlas Copco’s U.S. subsidiary Mafi-Trench has won a multi-million dollar order for six turboexpander generators from Enel North America. The generators will help drive environment-friendly geothermal power plants, producing enough energy to power a medium-sized city.

Atlas Copco’s U.S. subsidiary Mafi-Trench has won a multi-million dollar order for six turboexpander generators from Enel North America. The generators will help drive environment-friendly geothermal power plants, producing enough energy to power a medium-sized city.

The order is the largest ever for Mafi-Trench Co. LLC, which was acquired by Atlas Copco in July 2007 and is now part of the company’s Gas and Process division. Mafi-Trench has supplied turboexpanders to the gas processing, petrochemical and power recovery markets for three decades.

“We see great potential in Mafi-Trench’s products for customers in the renewable energy markets, and for the geothermal industry in particular,” said Ronnie Leten, president of Atlas Copco’s Compressor Technique Business Area. “This is clearly a future growth market for Atlas Copco and we are proud to get this order.”

Enel has ordered the machines, with a combined capacity of 84,000 KW, to be used at the Stillwater and Salt Wells geothermal power plants in Nevada. A growing business worldwide, the geothermal industry produces reliable and clean electric power by tapping wells of natural steam or hot water and converting it to electricity with machinery such as Mafi-Trench’s turboexpanders.

Enel is one of Europe’s largest utility companies, with headquarters in Italy and operations in more than 16 countries. Enel is a global leader in renewable energy generation with more than 19,000 MW of installed capacity. The Enel North America subsidiary works exclusively on renewable energy projects.

Gas and Process is a division within Atlas Copco’s Compressor Technique business area. It develops, manufactures and markets large, customized gas and process compressors and turbo expanders, and their respective aftermarket products. Its products are used primarily by the oil and gas, chemical/petrochemical process and power industries worldwide, and also by industries that specialize in gas production through air separation. The divisional headquarters and main production center are located in Cologne, Germany.