Combined heat and power (CHP) units are playing an increasingly important role in delivering onsite electricity generation and heat for a variety of residential, commercial, institutional and industrial applications. Efficient cogeneration technologies have been an area of emphasis in Europe since the 1980s but up to this point, CHP has not been widely adopted elsewhere. However, according to a new report from Pike Research, the global CHP market will enjoy a period of strong growth over the next decade, and the cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts that more than 8.5 million CHP systems, mostly small residential units, will be shipped between 2011 and 2021.
“Combined heat and power applications provide an opportunity for end users to generate electricity and heat on a highly distributed and localized basis, reduce energy expenses, and ensure reliable power,” says research analyst Anissa Dehamna. “Moreover, in some cases, CHP can be integrated into smart grids.”
However, adds Dehamna, several market conditions must coincide in order to make CHP units a reasonable alternative to the grid or even other self-generation technologies. These conditions include appropriate matching of thermal and electrical output to the customer’s needs, cooperation of utilities for interconnection and other implementation requirements, classification of CHP as “renewable energy” for inclusion in government programs (not necessary, but helpful), relatively high thermal requirements (compared to electrical requirements), and high or volatile spark spreads.
Pike Research’s analysis indicates that the right factors are aligning in the market to create a significant growth opportunity for CHP over the next decade, and the firm forecasts strong growth in unit shipments and revenues between 2011 and 2021. Of the 8.5 million units forecast to be shipped during that period, Pike Research anticipates that more than 95% of the total unit volume will be micro CHP units for residential markets. However, due to the much higher average unit costs in the commercial, institutional, and industrial sectors, the revenue segmentation among the four major market sectors will be much more evenly distributed. Commercial market growth will be robust and will follow a similar pattern to the residential market, albeit at much lower volumes. The two most developed application groups for CHP are institutional and industrial, but growth in these groups will be moderated by high project costs and long lead times.
Pike Research’s report, “Combined Heat and Power”, analyzes the key market barriers and drivers for each application and technology utilized in the CHP market. The study assesses technology issues, policy and regulatory factors, and the regional market trends that will drive increased CHP adoption in residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial application groups. Key industry players are profiled in depth and market forecasts, segmented by world region and application group, extend through 2021.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems (also known as cogeneration) generate electricity (and/or mechanical energy) and thermal energy in a single, integrated system. This contrasts with the more typical practice where electricity is generated at a central power plant and on-site equipment is used to meet nonelectric energy requirements. CHP systems’ overall energy efficiency is typically greater than systems where the electricity and thermal energy were being provided separately.
Minergy’s vitrification technologies take CHP to another level by incorporating the recycling of high-volume wastes into the application. The high temperatures necessary to convert the waste into a glass aggregate product provides an ideal opportunity for thermal energy recovery. Vitrification systems can be configured to recover this thermal energy in a form that is most appropriate for the customer’s process requirements, including steam, thermal oil and hot gas.
A prime CHP example is the Minergy’s Fox Valley Glass Aggregate Plant (FVGAP) located in Neenah, Wis., U.S.A. FVGAP converted up to 1,300 tons/day of paper mill sludge into 6 mega watts of electricity and 300,000 pounds/hour of steam available for local paper mills. FVGAP used some of this steam production to pre-dry the paper mill sludge to increase the combustion and boiler efficiencies. The FVGAP has operated continuously since 1998. It was sold by Minergy in 2006.
Minergy, a previous member of U.S. EPA’s Combined Heat and Power Partnership can tailor project development, design and engineering to meet your specific application, while being environmentally conscious.
Minergy’s vitrification technologies take CHP to another level by incorporating the recycling of high-volume wastes into the application. The high temperatures necessary to convert the waste into a glass aggregate product provides an ideal opportunity for thermal energy recovery. Vitrification systems can be configured to recover this thermal energy in a form that is most appropriate for the customer’s process requirements, including steam, thermal oil and hot gas.
A prime CHP example is the Minergy’s Fox Valley Glass Aggregate Plant (FVGAP) located in Neenah, Wis., U.S.A. FVGAP converted up to 1,300 tons/day of paper mill sludge into 6 mega watts of electricity and 300,000 pounds/hour of steam available for local paper mills. FVGAP used some of this steam production to pre-dry the paper mill sludge to increase the combustion and boiler efficiencies. The FVGAP has operated continuously since 1998. It was sold by Minergy in 2006.
Minergy, a previous member of U.S. EPA’s Combined Heat and Power Partnership can tailor project development, design and engineering to meet your specific application, while being environmentally conscious.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Combined Heat and Power Across the U.S.
The University of California, San Diego (see “Smart Power Generation at UCSD”) is just one of many combined heat and power (CHP), or cogeneration, systems in the U.S. A 2008 report by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), “Combined Heat and Power: Effective Energy Solutions for a Sustainable Future,” notes that Texas has the most CHP capacity—much of it used by the petrochemical and petroleum refining industries. California ranks second, largely a result of “industrial demands, stringent air quality requirements, and effective policies that encourage adoption of CHP.”
The following sites provide information about CHP projects that may be of interest to those considering this approach to generation:
* The California Energy Commission’s CHP page includes CHP costs and electrical and CHP efficiencies using various prime mover technologies.
* For a list of all CHP systems in California, see this site. The largest systems are owned and operated by oil and gas extraction companies, utilities, and food processing companies. Most are fueled by natural gas, but some use biomass and even petcoke. According to this site, there are a total of 971 CHP sites in California accounting for a total capacity of 8,585 MW.
* A list of selected CHP projects by market sector (including “Universities and Colleges”) can be found at this DOE site.
* For a list of all known CHP installations in the U.S., see this Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc./ICF site, which allows you to search by state.
CHP Goals for the U.S.
The ORNL report noted that “The generating capacity of the more than 3,300 US CHP sites now stands at 85 gigawatts (GW)—almost 9 percent of total US capacity. In 2006 CHP produced 506 billion Kilowatt Hour (kWh) of electricity—more than 12 percent of total US power generation for that year.” (Europe overall generates about 11% of its electricity from cogeneration plants.)
The U.S. Department of Energy has an aggressive goal of having CHP supply 20% of U.S. capacity by the year 2030. As part of its Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy program, the DOE has developed eight regional Clean Energy Application Centers to promote CHP, waste heat recovery, and “other clean energy technologies and practices.”
Confirming the value that UCSD’s manager of energy and utility services, John Dilliott, sees in distributed generation, the ORNL report notes that, “If properly integrated, CHP can improve grid stability, increase capacity, and prevent power outages.” It goes on to note that “CHP and distributed energy are part of an evolution toward a more decentralized, efficient, resilient, and integrated power system enabled by improvements in alternative energy and smart grid technology.”
The following sites provide information about CHP projects that may be of interest to those considering this approach to generation:
* The California Energy Commission’s CHP page includes CHP costs and electrical and CHP efficiencies using various prime mover technologies.
* For a list of all CHP systems in California, see this site. The largest systems are owned and operated by oil and gas extraction companies, utilities, and food processing companies. Most are fueled by natural gas, but some use biomass and even petcoke. According to this site, there are a total of 971 CHP sites in California accounting for a total capacity of 8,585 MW.
* A list of selected CHP projects by market sector (including “Universities and Colleges”) can be found at this DOE site.
* For a list of all known CHP installations in the U.S., see this Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc./ICF site, which allows you to search by state.
CHP Goals for the U.S.
The ORNL report noted that “The generating capacity of the more than 3,300 US CHP sites now stands at 85 gigawatts (GW)—almost 9 percent of total US capacity. In 2006 CHP produced 506 billion Kilowatt Hour (kWh) of electricity—more than 12 percent of total US power generation for that year.” (Europe overall generates about 11% of its electricity from cogeneration plants.)
The U.S. Department of Energy has an aggressive goal of having CHP supply 20% of U.S. capacity by the year 2030. As part of its Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy program, the DOE has developed eight regional Clean Energy Application Centers to promote CHP, waste heat recovery, and “other clean energy technologies and practices.”
Confirming the value that UCSD’s manager of energy and utility services, John Dilliott, sees in distributed generation, the ORNL report notes that, “If properly integrated, CHP can improve grid stability, increase capacity, and prevent power outages.” It goes on to note that “CHP and distributed energy are part of an evolution toward a more decentralized, efficient, resilient, and integrated power system enabled by improvements in alternative energy and smart grid technology.”
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) also known as cogeneration
CHP units generate simultaneous thermal heat and electrical power. They normally comprise an engine driving a turbine (similar to a generator) producing electricity. Unlike a generator though where the resultant heat is rejected and therefore wasted, the CHP recovers the heat through a water cooling system. This makes the system very energy efficient. This heat can then be used for heating and hot water similar to a boiler heating system.
Not only does CHP enable the conversion of a high proportion of waste heat to usable heat but also it is very efficient because power is generated close to where it is being used and thus electricity transmission losses are minimised.
CHP has been used for many years in commercial and industrial applications, for example, in hospitals and hotels where there is a continuous demand for both heating and electricity. In these cases, they are normally used in conjunction with standard boilers so that when they are shut down for maintenance or when electricity generation is not required, the standard boiler runs to provide hot water and heating.
Now though, micro CHP, smaller units for residential use are becoming more popular and more widely used.
On a residential level in Portugal, the CHP has two very useful applications: firstly in remote locations where mains electricity is not available, it can be used as a generator for providing electricity for the house whilst at the same time producing heat for the heating or sanitary hot water systems. Secondly where mains grid power is available, it can be used to generate electricity to sell back to the grid whilst once again producing heat for the heating or sanitary hot water systems. With the new legislation in Portugal for selling electricity back to the EDP grid, this latter solution makes the CHP system far more viable.
The normal fuel for CHP units is gas or oil but more recently, the units are now available with other types of burners including wood, waste products and biomass. Biomass pellets are a carbon neutral fuel (the carbon dioxide released during combustion is balanced by that absorbed during production).
The combination of biomass with CHP is extremely attractive because it involves a very efficient system combined with an environmentally friendly fuel.
The drawbacks with CHP units for residential applications are twofold:
*
Initial cost – a typical domestic CHP unit generating about 5 KW of electrical power and 10 KW of thermal power would cost in the region of €15,000.
*
Running times - CHP units work most efficiently when there is a continuous demand for both electrical energy and thermal energy. In winter, this should not be a problem as heating is necessary and the electrical energy can always be sold back to the grid if not consumed, but in summertime it may be difficult to run the CHP as there may be no thermal demand (except for hot water which is minimal particularly if solar panels are fitted) or unless the heat is dumped into the swimming pool. It is not possible to run the CHP without thermal demand as the heat must be rejected in some way.
Not only does CHP enable the conversion of a high proportion of waste heat to usable heat but also it is very efficient because power is generated close to where it is being used and thus electricity transmission losses are minimised.
CHP has been used for many years in commercial and industrial applications, for example, in hospitals and hotels where there is a continuous demand for both heating and electricity. In these cases, they are normally used in conjunction with standard boilers so that when they are shut down for maintenance or when electricity generation is not required, the standard boiler runs to provide hot water and heating.
Now though, micro CHP, smaller units for residential use are becoming more popular and more widely used.
On a residential level in Portugal, the CHP has two very useful applications: firstly in remote locations where mains electricity is not available, it can be used as a generator for providing electricity for the house whilst at the same time producing heat for the heating or sanitary hot water systems. Secondly where mains grid power is available, it can be used to generate electricity to sell back to the grid whilst once again producing heat for the heating or sanitary hot water systems. With the new legislation in Portugal for selling electricity back to the EDP grid, this latter solution makes the CHP system far more viable.
The normal fuel for CHP units is gas or oil but more recently, the units are now available with other types of burners including wood, waste products and biomass. Biomass pellets are a carbon neutral fuel (the carbon dioxide released during combustion is balanced by that absorbed during production).
The combination of biomass with CHP is extremely attractive because it involves a very efficient system combined with an environmentally friendly fuel.
The drawbacks with CHP units for residential applications are twofold:
*
Initial cost – a typical domestic CHP unit generating about 5 KW of electrical power and 10 KW of thermal power would cost in the region of €15,000.
*
Running times - CHP units work most efficiently when there is a continuous demand for both electrical energy and thermal energy. In winter, this should not be a problem as heating is necessary and the electrical energy can always be sold back to the grid if not consumed, but in summertime it may be difficult to run the CHP as there may be no thermal demand (except for hot water which is minimal particularly if solar panels are fitted) or unless the heat is dumped into the swimming pool. It is not possible to run the CHP without thermal demand as the heat must be rejected in some way.
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