Clarke Energy is part of the

Kohler Company Kohler Co., is an American manufacturing company founded in 1873 by John Michael Kohler, based in Kohler, Wisconsin. Kohler is best known for its plumbing products, but the company also manufactures furniture, cabinetry, tile, engines, and El ...

and is a multinational specialist in the sale, engineering, installation and maintenance of power plants that use

gas engine A gas engine is an internal combustion engine that runs on a fuel gas (a gaseous fuel), such as coal gas, producer gas, biogas, landfill gas, natural gas or hydrogen. In the United Kingdom and British English-speaking countries, the term is ...

s. Clarke Energy is an independent company with its global head offices located in Knowsley,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and is an authorised distributor and service partner for INNIO's Jenbacher and Waukesha gas engines. Clarke Energy has over 1,000 staff in seventeen countries worldwide including

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...

and

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

. The company maintains a portfolio of applications for both low-carbon power and

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

generation.

Applications and projects

Gas engines can be used in various gas-to-power applications including

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

combined heat and power (CHP) /

cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elec ...

biogas Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, Wastewater treatment, wastewater, and food waste. Biogas is produced by anaerobic ...

landfill gas Landfill gas is a mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill as they decompose organic waste, including for example, food waste and paper waste. Landfill gas is approximately forty to sixty percent methane, ...

, coal mine methane,

synthetic gas Syngas, or synthesis gas, is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide in various ratios. The gas often contains some carbon dioxide and methane. It is principally used for producing ammonia or methanol. Syngas is combustible and can be used as ...

wood gas Wood gas is a fuel gas that can be used for furnaces, stoves, and vehicles. During the production process, biomass or related carbon-containing materials are gasified within the oxygen-limited environment of a wood gas generator to produce a c ...

and

associated petroleum gas Associated petroleum gas (APG), or associated gas, is a form of natural gas which is found with deposits of petroleum, either dissolved in the oil or as a free "gas cap" above the oil in the reservoir. The gas can be utilized in a number of ways a ...

. In the UK Clarke Energy is a leading supplier of landfill gas generation equipment, in Australia for Coal Mine gas engines and in France for natural gas cogeneration units. The company has worked on pioneering projects including the supply of the first GE biogas engines into sub-Saharan Africa near Lake Naivasha in Kenya and pioneering the use of CNG as a fuel with Nestle Nigeria.

History

The company's current operations were established by Jim Clarke in 1989 and initially was a service provided for

diesel engines The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the die ...

. In 1995 Clarke Energy became distributor for Jenbacher Gas Engines. In 1998, from its original base in the UK Clarke Energy began to expand overseas. In 2002 GE acquired Jenbacher, the Austrian gas engine specialist company commencing Clarke Energy's status as an 'Authorized Distributor and Service provider' for GE. Clarke Energy helped develop some of the first projects as part of GE's Ecomagination initiative including a biogas projects in Punjab, India, and coal gas plants in Australia. Clarke Energy was acquired by US-based Kohler Co. in 2017.

Key events

*1989 - Clarke Energy Established as an engine service company *1995 - Clarke Energy nominated as distributor for Jenbacher AG gas engine products in UK *1998 - Awarded distribution rights for Jenbacher in Australia, New Zealand and Nigeria *2003 - GE acquires Jenbacher AG. Clarke Energy acquires Cogen India, awarded distribution rights for Jenbacher in India *2004 - Clarke Energy acquires Jenbacher France, awarded distribution rights for France. *2005 - Clarke Energy awarded distribution rights for Jenbacher in Ireland. Previous distributor's contract cancelled. *2008 - Clarke Energy awarded distribution rights for Jenbacher in Tunisia *2011 - Clarke Energy awarded distribution rights for Jenbacher in Algeria *2012 - Clarke Energy awarded distribution rights for Jenbacher in Tanzania *2013 - Clarke Energy acquires Orient Energy Systems Bangladesh, Agaricus Trading and GE's South African Jenbacher gas engine service business. Awarded distribution rights for Bangladesh, South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique *2017 - Clarke Energy is acquired by Kohler Co.

Affiliations and achievements

Clarke Energy is a member of the Combined Heat and Power Association, the Renewable Energy Association and a founding member of Lord Redesdale's Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association Clarke Energy is also a multiple award winner of the British Safety Council's International Safety Award. Clarke Energy was named 'Business of the Year 2012' in the Knowsley Business Awards. In 2012

ECI Partners ECI Partners is a growth focused private equity group based in the UK and the US, first established by the Bank of England in 1976. ECI typically invests up to £200m of equity (as part of an initial transaction) in businesses valued at up to � ...

acquired a minority stake in Clarke Energy. In 2013 the company was awarded 'Export Champion' status by UK Trade and Investment. In 2014 the company was announced as a winner of the

Queen's Award for Enterprise Queens is a borough of New York City. Queens or Queen's may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Queens (group), a Polish musical group * "Queens" (song), a 2018 song by Saara Aalto * ''Queens'' (novel), by Stephen Pickles, 1984 * "Queens", ...

(International Trade) for having achieved 6 years' sustained growth. The company also won the 2014 British Renewable Energy Award for Innovation, and 'Business of the Year >250 employees' in the (Liverpool City Region) Regional Business Awards. The company was also a finalist in the British Renewable Energy Awards 2013 & 2014 and the Energy Awards 2013Energy Awards Shortlist
www.theenergyawards.com It was awarded The Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade (Export) (2014).

References

{{Reflist, 26em Electrical engineering companies of the United Kingdom Engineering companies of the United Kingdom Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley Non-renewable resource companies established in 1989 Privately held companies of the United Kingdom Kohler Company British subsidiaries of foreign companies 2017 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Knowsley