Industrial tech firm TP Group (TPG:AIM), previously known as Corac, has found another potential application for its patented micro turbine technology.
As well as down-hole gas compression, oil refining and submarine air filtration, TP's intellectual property is now being deployed as part of a bold plan to store excess renewable energy.
Turbo expanders produced by TP will be used in an EU-funded project to convert surplus energy into a liquid which can then be quickly and cheaply expanded into a gas when there is more demand from National Grid (NG.).
TP expects to receive €500,000 (£363,000) over two years as part of the research and development (R&D) project into cryogenic energy storage (CES).
Shares in TP Group trade 0.5% higher at 3.1p.
After years spent developing the technology, chief executive Phil Cartmell, in a conversation with Shares in June this year, said it is now time for TP to make itself a commercial, as well as an R&D, success story.
A spin-off business from Brunel University, Corac originally developed the micro-turbine technology for oil, gas and submarine applications.
In March the business secured a 10-year agreement with leading British engineer Spirax-Sarco (SPX) to provide turbines which can generate energy from steam used in existing industrial plant.
Installing the turbines into steam systems enables businesses to cut energy costs by using the extra power generated in their own facility or selling it back to the grid.
Royalties from sales of the steam micro turbine technology are expected initially at £500,000 a year and could rise in the future if Spirax expands them into international markets.
Cartmell previously ran profitable small cap aerospace and defence outfit VEGA, which was eventually sold for £61.6 million to Italian defence giant Finmeccanica (FNC:BIT).
TP bought Shaw Sheet Metal in February for £0.8 million and Cartmell sees acquisitions as a key feature of strategy in the future.
