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INDUSTRY COMMENT BSEE
How CHP can help solve the 'energy trilemma' C
ombined Heat and Power (CHP), or cogeneration, will continue to play an important role in solving the UK's 'energy trilemma' by reducing cost, decarbonising supply and increasing energy security and resilience.
By capturing the heat (that is wasted in conventional power generation) and using it onsite, CHP can achieve total efficiencies of 90%, cost savings of up to 40% and CO2 emissions savings of up to 30%.
By Chris Marsland, Head of Cogen Product and Technology for ENER‐G, a Centrica company.
If you find the right applications for CHP, where there is sufficient heat demand over an extended period, the combined cost and carbon saving impact is difficult to match. The technology is also very versatile since it is suitable for new and refurbished buildings; can replace or augment existing boiler plant; create renewable hybrids such as solar cogeneration, stabilise the grid, and contribute to the growth of new microgrids.
There are some who wrongly forecast the future demise of CHP as we transition to renewable energy but they overlooked the fact that CHP is a highly efficient method of using natural gas and can also run on renewable fuels, such as biogas. They also ignore the vital contribution cogeneration makes to grid stability and the growth of interconnected networks of distributed energy resources, or microgrids, which reduce the need for
more network reinforcement. CHP plays a vital role in securing power supplies and underpinning the growth of intermittent renewable sources, such as wind and solar. The technology has rotating momentum that provides system inertia – serving as an anchor to stabilise the grid and react speedily to the need to turn up or turn down power in response to supply and demand. This is especially important given the gap being left by the loss of conventional power plants and the increasing penetration of heat pumps and electric vehicles, which are exacerbating peak demands. CHP's role in developing microgrids is illustrated by the Cornwall LEM (Local Energy Market) Energy Storage and Renewables Project, developed by Centrica. The £19m programme will test the use of flexible demand, efficient low carbon generation, renewables and storage. It will reward local people and businesses for being more flexible with their energy by using connected technologies such as CHP, Solar/PV and battery storage.
Another reason why CHP remains essential is the urgent need to increase energy productivity, particularly by addressing the energy supply chain's weak spot – of wasted heat. Forty per cent of the UK’s energy is used to generate heat energy, while heat wasted from buildings accounts for half of our total energy emissions. By capturing and utilising this heat, such
as via CHP heat networks, we can make dramatic improvements to energy efficiency.
This high efficiency makes cogeneration a vital part of the government's green construction strategy, which aims to reduce CO2 emissions from buildings by 50% before 2025. Most local authorities recognise CHP’s contribution to greener buildings, and support CHP as part of local planning and building regulation approvals. CHP is a proven and effective low carbon technology, and it qualifies for BREEAM credits for energy saving technologies.
Figures from the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) show that natural gas CHP will continue to deliver low carbon energy solutions to the grid beyond 2030. CHP currently meets 6% of the UK's electricity needs, with 5,261 MW of capacity installed, but there is significant capacity for more CHP. For example, analysis shows huge potential to expand industrial CHP by a further 2,900 MW, which it's estimated could support an additional 260,000 jobs. This potential can come from industrial, district heating, buildings and agricultural applications. Micro- combined heat and power, biomass systems and new technologies, such as cooling, and fuel cells, which are all areas where the potential for CHP has yet to be fully realised.
www.energ-group.com ‘ CHP's role in
developing microgrids is illustrated by the Cornwall LEM (Local Energy Market) Energy Storage and Renewables Project, developed by Centrica. The £19m programme will test the use of flexible demand, efficient low carbon generation, renewables and storage.
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