ENERPROJECT: Innovation and Quality Sets Enerproject Above the Rest

In 2023, the Global Innovation Index found for the 13^th consecutive year that Switzerland is a global leader in innovation, encouraging pioneering thinking through a highly skilled workforce, world-class research capability, many patent applications, and a strong support for business from the state. This environment supports entrepreneurialism and technological development, and it is against this backdrop that a global expert in industrial technology has grown.

Over the past three decades, Enerproject has made its name as one of the world’s foremost manufacturers of gas compressor packages and associated technology. With certification from numerous global industry bodies, Enerproject’s work is proven, and its technology is verified.

Recent projects have seen Enerproject busy around the world, in Thailand, Australia, USA, China, Norway, Vietnam, Turkey and more as the company continues to build on its already sterling reputation for quality, reliability, and technical knowhow.

According to Enerproject’s GM Business Development, Vito Notari, the company has set it sights on energy transition products in the gas space, while also driving collaboration in new geographic markets.

Notari knows about growing the business. He spent over a decade developing business across energy and oil and gas. And in his time at Enerproject he has developed the orderbook significantly.

“The company was born and grew in the provision of fuel boosters for gas turbines – this was the main product. We still excel in this area but in 2015 we decided to create a new business development department for customer applications including helium, CO₂, ammonia, LNG and more.”

MODERN APPLICATION  

As a leader in fuel gas compression packages for power generation plants, Enerproject has grown its expertise to deliver solutions for oil and gas, petrochemical, refrigeration, renewable energy and biogas. More recently, the company has entered upcoming industries that are paving the way for the future including hydrogen, helium, LNG and CCU and CCUS applications.

By 2023, more than 700 units had been built at Enerproject’s facility in Ticino, in southern Switzerland. Successful installations around the world have driven customers to ask modern questions of Enerproject, and Notari says the company has used its in-depth engineering knowledge combined with innovative spirit to develop solutions.

“We are a leading packager of gas compressors for industry, that is not debated,” he says. “We work with any type of compressor – methane, ammonia, CO₂, LNG etc. We focus on three key markets – power generation where we provide fuel boosters for gas turbines or gas engines of any size. Second is the maritime industry where we provide different type of compressors for LNG. Also, in closed loop or open cycle ammonia compressors with CO₂ capture projects is where we can provide CO₂ or mixed refrigerant compressors.

“Another big market is helium compression which we compress for scientific and research purposes applications,” he adds.

The company can provide compressors of any size, from small and convenient to large oil-based systems. Installation, commissioning, after-sales, troubleshooting, and ongoing maintenance are all included as part of the package for clients, and Enerproject is often able to monitor remotely. This can reduce unnecessary maintenance and therefore offer an overall lower cost through the lifecycle

“Considering the business opportunities and trends, ammonia as a fuel is something everyone is talking about. We have developed a specific product for this market and it is an area we want to focus on in the coming years,” confirms Notari.

“There is also a lot of talk about carbon capture, but few projects have been realised. We have developed our solution for that market and there is ongoing promotion.”

Using a modular approach to technology integration, fitting carbon capture units will eventually allow the compressors to be considered low-carbon, and Notari is keen to build on this in markets where the company sees potential for further growth.

“We started in Europe because we are based here,” he says, “but we have a strong presence in southeast Asia. We are strong in the Middle East and pushing more to get into the US market. We are already generating interest there, but we are looking for additional contacts in the power generation space with innovation at the front of mind.”

QUALITY ACROSS OPERATIONS

In the market for critical equipment in power generation, there is no margin for error. Health and safety standards are globally recognised, and quality is non-negotiable. To ensure its excellence continues, and the brand’s key value of customer satisfaction is upheld, Notari explains that a lot of work goes into building last relationships with reputable suppliers with a shared vision of superiority.

“We have strategic partnerships and approved vendors in our supply chain across what is a regularly checked relationship where we analyse quality, price, delivery etc. It’s all about quality and we are very focussed on maintaining that throughout our execution,” he says.

“We work a lot with EPC contractors, and also the end users. They all bring us opportunities and we enjoy becoming part of a larger team. We can work with any company and we are happy to invest time to understand applications and opportunities in the market through new products,” he adds. “We are a medium-sized company and so the resources are limited. We have to use them carefully and we cannot afford any wastage. We are all about opportunities that create further opportunities rather than singular transactions.”

The after sales team is responsible for ongoing maintenance of complex machinery, and this team of local personnel offers an extended service and speedy reaction should issues arise. For this reason, working with trusted and proven partners forms a key part of the strategy going forward. Whether it’s off-the-shelf compressors, BOG systems, or open cycle concepts with carbon capture, supply chain relations are as important as customer relations.

“Procurement is centralised because all of the units are built in Switzerland. We work with vendors from around the world but wherever we go we always need numbers to ensure we can gain competitive pricing.

“The packager, the bare shaft compressor, the vessel, the motors, piping, enclosures etc. Everything we purchase gets engineered by us, in house. Almost all of our vendors have been on our list for four or six years and some even 20 years. They know what we need and they are happy to adjust. They all know that we have a defined specification, and we are all happy to work to that together.”

Successful demonstrations of this start-to-finish approach to quality comes from around the world. At the start of the year, Enerproject completed an ammonia refrigeration unit for installation at a CO₂ plant in Australia. In May, the company celebrated the commissioning of a pilot flare recovery system for a big-name client in Thailand. In March, a tail gas compressor unit to be used in an Olefins expansion project in Europe was sent out from the Enerproject HQ. And in July, the company announced that it would participate in a pyrolysis project to convert used tyres into carbon black, tyre pyrolysis oil, and steel wire in Thailand. Last year, Enerproject was demonstrating its capability on site in USA, supplying compression units for helium application in Massachusetts.  

Across the power generation industry, compressor technology is still widely overlooked as an essential component in wider systems. In Switzerland, the most innovative of nations, with engineering ability rarely matched elsewhere, Enerproject continues to move the market forward. Notari is clear: “If you want reliability, if you want efficiency, it you want truly world-class, we are here to support.”