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Equal support for CHP A
UK's commitment to reduce carbon emissions and deny businesses and consumers the opportunity to lower their energy bills. As part of the Government’s electricity market reform, the Capacity
Market will deliver electricity to the grid from October 2018. As renewable generation plants come on stream, the Capacity Market has been designed to deliver electricity to the network at times when there is a surge in demand, or when insufficient energy is generated. Demand-side responders can bid for contracts to supply energy to the grid when it is under stress, four years ahead of delivery in auctions held every four years. Supplementary auctions also take place a year ahead of delivery. However, according to the ADE’s ‘Lightening the Load’ report, the mechanism is not going to deliver the low-carbon and low-cost energy that is promised. Due to the way the auction has been structured, the ADE has highlighted that CHP has been side-lined and cannot compete fairly in the market compared to traditional gas plants. As a result, it says, the scheme is “failing businesses” because organisations in the UK could be missing out on savings of £750m a year. Whilst traditional gas plants definitely have a role to play in the capacity
The University of Northampton’s new £330m Waterside Campus development has been designed using REHAU’s TABS system
market, the scheme should give CHP equal support. By generating power and heat simultaneously, CHP can offer a more energy efficient commercial heating process, especially for buildings that require high and continuous year-round heating loads. These buildings can achieve the most energy efficient operation because of their long running hours. For businesses concerned about rising electricity prices, CHP offers a way to produce electricity at gas prices, which is approximately eight pence cheaper per kW/h compared with buying it directly from the grid. The electricity generated doesn’t suffer losses resulting from moving power over large distances either. As the ADE highlighted, the widespread adoption of CHP could cut the same amount of carbon emissions as removing one of every 14 cars from British roads. So, if the capacity market is to encourage the provision of low-carbon, reliable supplies of electricity, it must be structured in a way that would give businesses an incentive to invest in CHP. If CHP is given a level playing field in the capacity market auction, organisations that could gain a great deal from CHP would be encouraged to invest in the technology. At the same time, consumers would benefit from a better- balanced electricity network and more affordable electricity prices. Many cities across Scandinavia already utilise highly-efficient energy
sources such as CHP plants to power their heat networks. The UK is lagging in comparison. By increasing support for local CHP systems via the capacity market mechanism, the Government can secure the country’s long-term supply of electricity, whilst delivering cleaner and affordable energy for all.
s older power stations need replacing and more renewable but inflexible forms of generating electricity connect to the grid, a
long-term strategy is needed to ensure future energy demand can be met. The Government's Capacity Market scheme has been touted as one of the key pillars of the Electricity Market Reform programme to help achieve this objective. However, the mechanism lacks proper support for more energy efficient technologies such as CHP. Paul Wilson, national sales manager – CHP, at Remeha, explains why this could jeopardise the
www.heatingandventilating.net
August 2017
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