Click to Enlarge

Thermal Energy's Tim Angus. (Darren Brown, OBJ)

Thermal Energy International Inc. ( TSX-V:TMG) has announced new deals totalling more than $650,000 in the Middle East and China, shortly after brokering a distribution deal with Florida's Kemco Systems Inc.

The contracts are the Ottawa-based green energy company's first customer wins since being forced in February to hold off on a major multimillion-dollar deal with an unnamed North American paper company due to the global economic troubles.

Thermal Energy said the Kuwait National Petroleum Corp. has ordered its GEM steam trap system for the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery. The order is in excess of $450,000 and is expected to be installed early in the first quarter of Thermal Energy's fiscal 2010, the company noted.

The firm also said that an unnamed European-based global pharmaceutical corporation has made two new orders for its plants in northeastern China, for a combined total value of more than $200,000.

Both customers are upgrading to Thermal's GEM technology, which captures waste heat from a customer's industrial machines, allowing the steam to be converted into clean energy to be used instead of fossil fuels.

As well, Thermal Energy said it's currently finalizing deals with Sichuan Yanjing Beer and Yongshen Chemicals, both of which have signed letters of intent for trial installations of the GEM system at their manufacturing sites in Chongqing.

Thermal Energy's stock has enjoyed gains in the past week, following the Monday announcement that it has inked an agreement to become the exclusive global distributor of Kemco Systems Inc.'s environmentally friendly water heaters and heat recovery and water treatment systems, in all areas except North and South America.

As part of the agreement, Thermal Energy will take on three Kemco employees in the United Kingdom under its GEM division, and will immediately take over the existing Kemco pipeline of sales opportunities in all the territories represented in the distribution agreement.

Kemco will also manufacture Thermal Energy's FLU-ACE waste heat-to-energy conversion systems at the former's Clearwater, Fla. Manufacturing plant, which will help Thermal Energy cut manufacturing costs.

"We are very pleased to conclude this ageement with Kemco, adding a number of new proven products to our offering, ultimately providing more options and more value for our customers," said Thermal Energy CEO Tim Angus in a statement. "Kemco has an established track record as the industry leader for heat recovery, ultra-efficient water heating and water recycling technologies."

The arrangement is similar to the exclusive distribution deal Thermal Energy made with Gardner Energy Management Ltd., which originated the GEM system. Thermal Energy bought Gardner Energy Management Ltd. in 2008.

Shares of Thermal Energy, which have barely budged from their four-cent low since the beginning of the year, closed at eight cents on Tuesday.