American DG Energy has signed a joint venture agreement with Hermany Farms to supply energy to the milk-processing facility in Bronx, NY, through a distributed power generation system. Under the terms of the agreement, Hermany Farms will receive a substantial portion of its electricity and hot water directly from an on-site, 225-kW cogeneration facility.
"We run our facility seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, and energy is a major component of our costs," said Bob Marrow, president of Hermany Farms. "After reviewing the different technologies that were available to us, we chose the technology that offered the best balance. Our collaboration with American DG Energy will reduce energy costs while improving the quality of the energy we need to run our facility."
Hermany Farms has been pasteurizing and bottling milk at its current location for more than 50 years. The dairy, which is one of only three milk processing plants still operating in New York City, processes more than 300,000 gallons of milk each week. Processing operations there require significant amounts of electricity to keep milk cold and to provide hot water for cleaning and sterilizing tanks and filling machines.
"Our on-site program is a perfect fit for energy-intensive processing facilities such as Hermany Farms," said Barry Sanders, president of American DG Energy. "Obviously, they will benefit from lower energy costs. And, as a water-intensive processing operation, Hermany Farms will also be able to take full advantage of the hot water that is an important, but often overlooked 'by-product' of our distributed generation technology."
Distributed generation is the simultaneous production of electricity and hot water at the customer's site, rather than at a central power station. The installation at Hermany Farms will use equipment from Tecogen, the leading manufacturer of low-emission packaged cogeneration units in the United States.
About American DG Energy
American DG Energy supplies low-cost energy to its customers through distributed power generating systems using cogeneration. The company is committed to providing institutional, commercial, and small industrial facilities with clean, reliable power and hot water at lower costs than charged by local utilities - without any capital or start-up costs to the energy user. American DG Energy is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.