Orcan Energy

Orcan Energy was formed from a spin-out of the Technical University of Munich. The company has developed patented PACKs, which offer a compact, service-reduced, and cost-efficient plug-and-play waste heat power generator based on Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology. 

With power ranging from 50 kWel to 200 kWel, these packs draw from small to medium waste heat sources ranging from exhaust gasses, exhaust air, and exhaust steam to process water. These can be sourced from furnaces in the cement, zinc, metal, or glass industries as well as thermal afterburners in the automotive, construction, or wood processing industries and refineries. In November 2022, Orcan Energy and Baseload Capital commissioned the first project utilizing waste heat from existing oilfield operations at Chevron’s San Ardo oil and gas field in California, demonstrating the potential of using existing oil and gas wells.

In April 2022, Orcan launched its ePACK M 150.200 to utilize waste heat onboard ships. Following this, in September 2022, Orcan installed its solution for the first time on a river cruise ship.

In February 2024, Orcan expanded its production facility in Kiel, Germany to meet growing customer demand.

Key customers and partnerships

As of March 2024, Orcan Energy has sold over 600 units of its ePacks. Notable customers of its products include E.ON, CSBC-DEME Wind Engineering (October 2020), Mohn Media (December 2020), Nordenhamer Zinkhütte (June 2021), Wittekind Cement (July 2021), Van Oord, (July 2021), Cemex (November 2021), Ecobat Resources (August 2022), Chevron (November 2022), and Frutura (March 2024).

In November 2021, Orcan partnered with Alfa Laval to market and sell its products to the to the marine market. In September 2023, Orcan partnered with the TITAN Group to explore the development and deployment of a modular clean energy solution that will convert waste heat into clean electricity. The two companies intend to begin by deploying Orcan Energy's waste heat-to-power solutions across several of TITAN facilities.

In February 2024, Orcan expanded its partnership with Cemex to decarbonize the latter’s cement production through waste heat recovery, globally.

Funding and financials 

In September 2022, Orcan raised EUR 28.5 million (~USD 28 million) in a late-stage growth round, which was led by TiLT Capital. The company planned to use the funds to accelerate its global presence in established markets such as Europe and the US as well as emerging markets in the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Furthermore, the funds were to also contribute to enhancing the company’s supply chain and removing bottlenecks.

In January 2023, Otium Capital invested an undisclosed amount in Orcan Energy.