Dentis (ITA)

Background

Founded in 1987, Dentis specializes in the recovery and recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaging wastes and is one of Italy’s biggest PET post-consumer bottle recyclers. At its production site and group headquarters in Sant’ Albano Stura (Cuneo), the company produces recycled PET bottle PETALO® flakes and bottle-grade rPET REPETER® pellets, which it provides to Italian and international brand owners. The Dentis Group also has two production sites abroad (Valencia, Spain, and Lille, France) for a total recycling capacity of more than 270,000 tons of post- consumer PET bottles per year.

Plastic recycling is a growing global business. But when Dentis decided to double the size of its recycling plant, it recognized it would not be able to obtain the power it required from the grid. The company turned to INNIO Group for a turnkey solution that could meet its energy needs while reducing costs—and complete the plant during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Solution

Working with a third-party company that was building the power island on the site, INNIO Group supplied a complete Jenbacher combined heat and power (CHP) plant, including two J624 engines running on pipeline gas.

INNIO Group's contract with Dentis also included balance-of-plant (BOP) and an 11-year customer service agreement (CSA) with maintenance using Jenbacher technicians.

Commissioning took place on schedule in July 2022.

Results

The timely CHP installation allowed for faster plant expansion, outpacing the infrastructure power grid limitations. The two highly flexible Jenbacher Type 6 engines supply direct power to the plant, meeting 80% of total load demand.

The heat recovery with the CHP system drives business plan profitability by delivering extra heating for the plant, cutting energy costs for the site’s existing boilers. In addition, Dentis now has access to the Italian incentivization tariff mechanism (“Certificati Bianchi”) thanks to the heat recovery in place, which improves the profitability of the energy system.

Plus, with cogeneration, Dentis has reduced its carbon footprint, lowering its primary energy consumption by around 30% compared to the separate production of heat and electricity.

 

Customer benefits

• With cogeneration, Dentis has lowered its primary energy consumption by around 30% compared to the separate production of heat and electricity.
• Dentis can access the Italian incentivization tariff mechanism ("Certificati Bianchi") thanks to the heat recovery system.
• The timely CHP installation allowed for faster plant expansion.
• Because Jenbacher engines are "Ready for H₂", the Jenbacher unit can be converted to operate with up to 100% hydrogen . Details on the cost and timeline for a future conversion may vary and need to be clarified individually.