Although very popular for its motorcycle division, Kawasaki, a world manufacturer of energy equipment, is present in Europe mainly through the division that produces gas turbines and internal combustion engines. Basically, this equipment uses natural gas and has installed capacities of 1.8 to 34 MWe for gas turbines and 5.2MWe and 7.8MWe for engines, said Cristian Athanasovici, Business Development Manager, Kawasaki Gas Turbine Europe GmbH, within the event Regional approach: Chisinau 2021, organized by Energynomics.

Kawasaki has developed in Kobe, Japan, a 1.8MWe plant that runs 100% hydrogen, although the plant can also run on natural gas, in any mixture with hydrogen. The Japanese company has very ambitious targets to increase the share of hydrogen use in equipment – from 10 to 30% and even to 100%.

However, in the short term, the most affordable solution is natural gas, even if hydrogen can be a long-term solution. “Kawasaki has solutions to move to distributed energy production and to get closer to the consumer. Because decarbonization is the buzzword of today, we are looking at the renewable side and have developed solutions for the use of hydrogen. Today, they can burn 10-100% hydrogen, and the short-term goal is to reach 30-50% hydrogen with all the equipment, mixed with natural gas”, said Athanasovici.

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“Kawasaki entered Europe in 1975 through an agreement with Deutz and MWM. In 1998, it set up its own subsidiary in Germany, together with a production plant, so all Kawasaki gas turbine packages are European certified. In 2018, Kawasaki set up the representative office in Romania, with responsibilities for South-Eastern Europe”.

Kawasaki has cogeneration solutions addressing the urban sector, which means municipalities, and solutions addressing the industrial sector. Kawasaki pays close attention to reducing pollutant emissions, with new technological developments including internal combustion engines and hydrogen-capable gas turbines.

Kawasaki has low power solutions for turbines, in the range of 1.8-34MWe and very high-efficiency motors – a 5.2MWe motor with an efficiency of 49% and a 7.8MWe motor with an efficiency of 51%.

The company offers solutions ranging from engineering, pre-feasibility studies, to the implementation of solutions and equipment maintenance.

Autor: Bogdan Tudorache

Active in the economic and business press for the past 26 years, Bogdan graduated Law and then attended intensive courses in Economics and Business English. He went up to the position of editor-in-chief since 2006 and has provided management and editorial policy for numerous economic publications dedicated especially to the community of foreign investors in Romania. From 2003 to 2013 he was active mainly in the financial-banking sector. He started freelancing for Energynomics in 2013, notable for his advanced knowledge of markets, business communities and a mature editorial style, both in Romanian and English.