Capstone Green Energy Delivers Microturbines, Control System to Janesville Plant

The City of Janesville, WI, ordered two C65 microturbines, one C200S microturbine, and a Vergent controller from Vergent Power, a regional distributor of Capstone Green Energy (Capstone). With Capstone’s microturbines currently installed, Janesville placed a follow-up order to improve its wastewater treatment facility and increase on-site generation capacity to 460 kW.

Capstone’s turbines will be installed in a combined heat-and-power (CHP) configuration, burning digester gas as fuel and generating electricity for Janesville’s wastewater plant. On a technical level, the turbines will capture and convert waste heat into usable thermal energy for anaerobic digesters. The cyclical, environmentally sustainable approach will minimize greenhouse gas emissions and lower operating expenses.

“Capstone is honored to continue our long-standing relationship with the City of Janesville,” said Vince Canino, President and CEO of Capstone Green Energy. “This project demonstrates the repeatable business model that our microturbine CHP systems can provide. Our ability to run reliably on digester gas is an example of recycling a waste stream into useful products that help reduce costs and improve the environment. It is exciting to provide enhanced sustainability solutions for municipal facilities like the City of Janesville. This is a model of how wastewater treatment plants can take advantage of their waste streams by leveraging energy solutions that benefit their communities.”

Facility & Funding

The plant is presently equipped with two C65 microturbines installed in 2010, a C200 microturbine commissioned in November 2024, and two C65 microturbines commissioned in April 2025. Janesville leveraged financial incentives to expand its Capstone microturbine system, such as the federal Investment Tax Credit and the Department of Energy’s Industrial Training and Assessment Centers grant, which supported 90% of project costs.

Janesville wastewater treatment facility; image credit: Midwest CHP

“Our facility is operating a new microturbine at a fraction of the cost,” said David Botts, P.E., Utility Director for the City of Janesville. “Vergent has been excellent at handling the upgrade for us, with minimal involvement from our team. Having access to external funding programs allows us the ability to lower our carbon footprint on a sustainable basis for our community. All wastewater treatment facilities should explore similar opportunities to improve their efficiency, all while reducing costs.”

In addition to federal incentives, Janesville selected Capstone after experiencing the reliability and high performance of its microturbine technology, allowing the city to improve its overall energy infrastructure in combination with Vergent’s project development and management capabilities.

Capstone in the News

In April 2025, the City of Winona, MN, ordered two C65 integrated CHP microturbines and a remote monitoring controller from Vergent Power. The system will be installed at its wastewater treatment plant and double its renewable energy output at lower costs. Capstone’s C65 CHP produces consumable electricity, minimizes natural gas usage, lowers overall carbon emissions, and offers low-cost, resilient operation. The turbine’s exhaust energy is recovered and converted into hot water, then fed into the digester’s process-heating loads.

The new turbines, set to be commissioned by April 30, will replace an existing C65 CHP model that operated for over 15 years and had more than 100,000 hours of runtime. The Vergent controller allows the City of Winona to monitor Capstone’s CHP system, improving equipment visibility and energy sustainability.