Rolls-Royce Delivers Gas Generators to Power Rice Straw Production Plant

Rolls-Royce installed, tested, and verified 10 mtu Series 4000 L64 FNER gensets at the Egyptian Wood Technology Co.’s (WOTECH) production plant in Beheira Province, Egypt. Without access to the public grid, WOTECH uses the 20-cylinder gas gensets—each rated at 2,500 kW for a 25-MW total capacity—to produce medium-density fiberboard (MDF) from rice straw. These gensets can operate up to 84,000 hours prior to major overhaul.

The company partnered with Engineering for Industries Co. (INDE) and the Egyptian Maintenance Company (EMC) to provide the gensets, controls, and related accessories for the WOTECH project, founded and supported by capital from Egypt’s petroleum ministry.

WOTECH Plant

The production plant avoids burning rice straw—a byproduct of rice cultivation—by repurposing straw into MDF. The rice straw replaces wood as a raw material in MDF, which is used to make cabinets, doors, furniture and commercial and residential buildings. It is the second plant of its kind globally and the first in Africa, notably minimizing air pollution and CO₂ emissions in Egypt.

Gas gensets installed at WOTECH plant; image credit: Rolls-Royce

“When supporting a project such as the WOTECH facility, where there is no access to the grid utility, the dependability of our mtu gas-powered gensets is paramount,” said Tobias Ostermaier, President Stationary Power Solutions at Rolls-Royce. “Working with INDE and EMC, we were able to deliver a power solution that met all the customer requirements - being efficient, reliable and offering the combination of best-in-class power density with low emissions.”

Rolls-Royce Gensets

In early December 2024, AVK and Rolls-Royce Power Systems achieved a sales milestone: Over 500 hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO)-powered mtu generators were sold and supplied to the data center market, providing almost 1.3 GW of standby power capacity for mission-critical environments. In addition to data centers, these units were sold to the industrial and building sectors, bringing AVK’s total standby power capacity to more than 3.5 GW. AVK also received 120 additional orders for HVO-powered gensets, yet to be delivered.

Throughout 2024, the companies delivered sustainable, standby power solutions to customer projects across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Europe overall. The high-profile deployments included data centers and commercial real estate developments in London, both of which use Rolls-Royce’s mtu Series 2000 and 4000 gensets powered by HVO. The companies supplied their joint offerings to large-scale, energy-intensive industries attempting to satisfy climate change regulations. In addition to the HVO-fueled genset, which reduces net CO₂ emissions by up to 90%, AVK and Rolls-Royce provide hydrogen-ready gas gensets to decarbonize data centers, financial institutions, and the healthcare and industrial sectors.

And in November, Rolls-Royce agreed to deliver 10 mtu Series 4000 L64 FNER natural gas gensets to Collicutt Energy Services for five end-user installations—specifically, distributed energy sites—in Alberta, Canada, with the first site now operational. The genset-equipped installations will dispense electricity into the local grid during peak demand hours, offering continuous power availability for the community and industry.

Collicutt, as the distributor partner and project lead, oversaw the engineering, design, manufacturing, onsite installation, and final commissioning, as well as the initial concept. The company also agreed to provide long-term genset and balance-of-plant maintenance, including 24/7 monitoring at each site.