American dream for award-winning energy firm

KNOWSLEY-based Clarke Energy has signed an agreement with US company GE to supply Jenbacher gas engines to a huge swathe of the American Midwest.

Clarke – the company which bagged the North West Business Masters Exporter of the Year Award for the second year running in 2016 – will serve as GE’s authorized distributor for the engines in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The deal will cover the entire range of Jenbacher products and service parts, including Clarke’s fully comprehensive maintenance contracts.

The relationship comes as GE continues to rapidly expand its Jenbacher engine technology offerings in the United States.

With hundreds of Jenbacher gas engines installed across the US, GE’s systems offer customers needing energy for their operations on or off the grid with reliable, efficient power generated by engines that can run on a wide variety of natural gas fuels, from biogas to coal-bed methane.

Wouter-Jan van der Wurff, general manager, channel for GE’s Distributed Power business, said: “As the Midwest continues to transform parts of its energy portfolio to renewable energy resources, we are pleased to work with Clarke Energy to showcase how our fuel-flexible Jenbacher solutions can be customized for a broad range of industrial and residential on-site power projects.”

“Energy security and supply resiliency are emerging as key drivers for a number of municipalities and cooperatives that are exploring distributed power as a means to supplement their existing power supply contracts.”

Clarke Energy chief executive Jamie Clarke said: “The distributed power needs in the Midwest will continue to change and grow, and we are excited to be part of this great energy transformation in the Midwest.

“Clarke Energy brings its expertise to the six states in the Midwest for the engineering, installation and maintenance of GE’s Jenbacher gas engines.

 “Our extensive application engineering resources, coupled with comprehensive maintenance agreements given as standard will enable the highest levels of convenience for our customers.”