The Renewable Energy Testing Center
Before being downsized in 2014, Technikon’s Renewable Energy Testing Center (RETC) operated under contract to the U.S. Army. Over a period of six years, the facility, which represented a $40 million infrastructure investment by the Department of Defense, built, permitted, started up and tested more waste-to-energy hardware than any other single location in the world.
Its mission was to support the commercialization of renewable energy technologies by supplying a testing location and associated services not normally available elsewhere. The program’s particular focus was waste-to-energy and fuels technologies, biomethane production and gas cleaning technologies.
The RETC managed over $30 million in Federal and State contracts related to energy, environmental or manufacturing technologies. It validated more than 180 processes and products for energy efficiency and environmental impact. It had three gasifiers with air permits in operation, along with multiple support technologies.
Additionally, it assisted renewable energy companies in obtaining more than $35 million in State and Federal grants related to the results of its RETC testing program.