Bridgestone Associates Celebrates 30 Years in Business

A personal note from Martin Anderson, Bridgestone Associates President and Founder…

“I am pleased announce that this month, November 2021, we are celebrating 30 years in business. Over those three decades we have seen a lot of changes in our industry with deregulation and competition in both electric and gas markets, substantial changes in who generates and sells electricity, and a very significant improvement in overall generation efficiencies coupled with a needed reduction in generation related emissions. Still more changes are underway with the growth of solar, wind, hydrogen, and other renewable generation sources, the desired reduction in fossil fuel use, the development of resilient microgrids, and the implementation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Of course change makes opportunity and so we will continue into our fourth decade and assist our clients as they navigate these new opportunities while they manage their legacy markets.”

“When I started the company in November 1991 my plan was to offer clients independent consulting and advisory services on the generation and use of energy, and specifically on the economics, design, development, construction, and operations of combined heat and power (CHP) and independent power (IPP) plants. This we have done over the past 30 years having performed consulting services on over 250 power generation projects totaling over 21,500 MW, including over 2,500 MW of renewable power projects. In addition to those power generation projects, we have worked on many hundreds of other client engagements including energy and sustainability audits of commercial, industrial and institutional facilities; grant preparation for energy and infrastructure projects; grant proposal review for state and federal agencies; business and marketing plan preparation; manufacturing energy sales tax audits; power plant valuation and salvage studies; trade association management; and providing expert testimony on energy industry issues. Throughout these varied projects we have met and worked with all sorts of clients, suppliers, agencies, government officials, bankers, engineers, and other consultants throughout North America and around the World, some of which have now become good friends. After over 30 years I am also very pleased to say that we have stayed true to my original goal of being independent and able to offer expert consulting and advisory services that are equipment, technology and manufacturer “agnostic”. We want our clients to make their decisions based on clear and unbiased facts not tempered by some need to “push” a particular product or piece of equipment, so independence has always remained an important goal.”

“One of the challenging but interesting things that has made being a consultant for over 30 years is the abundant diversity in projects, fuels, clients, and locations. Some of the highlights include:

• We have worked on projects in, or had clients from over 35 countries including: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Laos, Liberia, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and United States.
• We have worked with all sorts of traditional, renewable, and waste fuels including: almond orchard prunings, bagasse, biogas, carbottom furnace exhaust, cashew nut shells, chicken litter, coal, coke oven gas, cow manure, diesel oil, HFO, hydro, hydrogen, LNG, meat processing waste, natural gas, propane, refinery gas, rice husks, sewage sludge, solar, straw, waste coal, waste heat, whole tree chips, and wind.
• We have worked with all types of power generation technologies including: combined cycle systems, combustion turbines, fuel cells, hydro turbines, microturbines, Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems, reciprocating engines, solar CSP, solar PV, steam turbines, and wind turbines.
• And among our over 500 projects over the past 30 years, we have worked on some very diverse and interesting projects. A few of these include:
  • A 10 MW cashew nut husk fueled CHP plant feasibility study in Fortaleza, Brazil.
  • A rehabilitation study and new biomass 40 MW CHP and 120 MW combined cycle plant at former Russian ballistic missile plant in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine for USTDA.
  • Feasibility studies and development of two 700 MW combined cycle plants in Nigeria.
  • Complete cost estimating and preliminary design of 200 MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant with three hours of molten salt thermal storage in southern Colorado.
  • An energy efficiency study on the dairy industry in Kenya.
  • A feasibility study on conversion of an abandoned partially constructed nuclear plant to a 1,200 MW natural gas plant in northern Mississippi.
  • An 18 acre hydroponic greenhouse 11 MW CHP and microgrid in Maryland.
  • A 225,000 square foot indoor cannabis grow facility CHP plant in Colorado.
  • A 28 MW HFO fueled generating plant in Monrovia, Liberia.
  • A 600 MW single shaft combined cycle plant in New Jersey.
  • Valuation and salvage of a 25 year old 56 MW CHP plant in Palo Alto, California.
  • A low temperature membrane heat recovery system with Sandia National Laboratories.
  • A 50 kW high temperature hot water waste heat ORC system at a gold mine in Colorado.
  • A 400 ton per day mixed use anaerobic digester and 12 MW CHP facility in New York.”

“To all of those with whom we have worked over the past three decades, a big THANK YOU. We look forward to continuing our work with you and others into our fourth decade.”