Case Study: Astor Chocolate achieves reliable, green power with Capstone Green Energy microturbines

Astor Chocolate Corporation - Customer Case Study

Astor Chocolate Corporation, a 120,000-square-foot chocolate manufacturer in Lakewood, New Jersey, needed highly reliable power to protect product quality and maintain exact temperature control for liquefying, tempering, cooling, and storing chocolate. Facing the risk of outages and brownouts, Astor Chocolate turned to Capstone Green Energy and its microturbine-based combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) solution.

Capstone Green Energy installed five Capstone C60 natural-gas microturbines with integrated heat recovery modules, plus a 100-ton absorption chiller, to deliver onsite trigeneration for electricity, heating, hot water, and cooling. The system provides up to 300 kW and covers about 50–80% of the facility’s electric needs, supplies more than 2 million BTUs of thermal energy, and runs 24/7 with 99% uptime. According to the case study, the solution paid for itself, reduced Astor Chocolate’s carbon footprint, and improved both reliability and operating efficiency.

Astor Chocolate Corporation

Joe Verschleisser

Plant Engineering Manager