Shelbyville site selected for unique electric generation project

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — A site in Shelby County is one of four selected for waste heat to power (WHP) projects being developed by Kansas-based Tallgrass Energy and Houston-based Kanin Energy. The developers say when complete, the Indiana project will create enough emission-free energy to power more than 8,500 homes annually.

Kanin Energy says the WHP projects will capture heat that is a byproduct of industrial processes and converts the heat into electricity with no additional fuels.

The energy created through the WHP process is described as 24/7 carbon-free energy because it does not create emissions and offsets the need to generate additional electricity.

Janice Tran, chief executive officer of Kanin Energy, says 24/7 carbon-free energy is the next frontier of sustainability.

“We’re excited to be working with Tallgrass to develop these waste heat to power projects,” Tran said in written remarks. “We are focused on our proprietary waste heat to power projects because they provide baseload power from heat in industrial processes that would otherwise not be used and to create something valuable – clean energy. This is a great opportunity to help the industrial sector quickly meet their decarbonization goals.”

The site near Shelbyville is being developed along with two near Dayton, Ohio and one near Columbus, Ohio. Details of the financial investment in the projects are not being disclosed.

A spokesperson for Kanin tells Inside INdiana Business the locations were selected based on the available waste heat from existing natural gas compression assets on the Rockies Express Pipeline, which Tallgrass operates.

All together, Kanin and Tallgrass say the projects will generate a combined 48 megawatt hours of energy, enough to provide power to 38,000 households.

Construction on the projects is expected to begin in 2023.