Basic Guide
Basic Guide
Basic Guide
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Note from the editors........3 A wide range of possibilities....4 The technical principles6 Fundamental economic considerations.....8 Basic phases of a cogeneration project...11 A brief project checklist........................12 Make your first assessment with easyCOGEN.xls..........................................14 About COGENchallenge.............................16
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Cogeneration is the most efficient way of energy conversion. Its wider use has various positive impacts on the economy, the environment, the responsible use of resources and on security of energy supply. Cogeneration, also known as CHP (combined heat and power), produces 10% of all electricity and around the same share of heat in the 25 EU countries. There is a strong political will to increase the share of cogeneration in the coming years, because this well-proven technology offers a range of benefits for society.
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Small-scale cogeneration is an attractive and practical proposition for a wide range of applications:
the building sector: houses and apartment buildings, hospitals, police stations and prisons, schools and universities, community heating schemes, office buildings such as Government buildings or banks.
the agricultural sector: Horticulture and greenhouses, drying crops or wood, animal shelters, use of agro-wastes such as biogas.
the industrial sector: food processing, textile production, brewing, distilling and malting, timber processing, motor industry, and also industrial zones or parks.
services: hotels, swimming pools and leisure centres, stores and supermarkets, airports, shopping centres, restaurants, laundries, car washes.
energy from waste using the biogas production of: sewage treatment works, landfill sites.
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The Laguna Ljubljana resort is a camping and hotel centre with an open swimming pool complex and sport centre. The installed small-scale cogeneration unit with a capacity of 230 kWe (gas engine) supplies most of the electricity and a high share of the total heat demand of the resort during the whole year. Compared to separate heat and power production, the installation saves around 110 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
In Frankfurt, a large number of schools cover a part of their heating need with small-scale cogeneration units. Two 50 kWe small-scale cogeneration units (gas engines) were installed in the Carl Schurz school in 1993. They produce 80 % of the annual heat demand of the school, the gym and the swimming pool and save around 50 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
In 2004, eight microturbines of 30 kWe each were installed on a landfill site nearby Paris. This cogeneration plant uses most of the biogas produced by the site rather than simply flaring the gas. The electricity generated is sold to the French utility EDF at a price of 120,000 per year. A greenhouse under construction next to the site will be supplied with heat. It is estimated that each year around 130 tonnes of carbon dioxide will be saved thanks to the use of biogas for producing electricity and heat.
The Heathrow Marriott is a large luxury hotel with 390 guestrooms, a heated indoor swimming pool and a gym. Installed in 2001, the 400 kWe cogeneration unit runs on average 17 hours per day with an average availability of 97.5%. The hotel management calculated annual cost savings to have reached 75,700 for the first year of operation, while avoiding over 250 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over the same period.
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Cogeneration is a principle and not a single technology. In Heat general, cogeneration can be applied in all cases where electricity is produced by thermal combustion, may it be based on fossil or renewable fuels. By exactly analysing the consumption patterns of individual users, cogeneration schemes can be optimised to supply their specific needs.
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Engines
Most small-scale cogeneration units are internal combustion engines operating on the same familiar principles as their petrol and diesel automotive counterparts. Engines run with liquid or gaseous fuels, such as heating oil, natural gas or biogas, and are available from 1 kWe to more than 1,000 kWe. Internal combustion engines have a higher electrical efficiency than turbines, but the thermal energy they produce is generally at lower temperatures and so they are highly suited to buildings applications. The usable heat:power ratio is normally in the range 1:1 to 2:1. For very small-scale applications with a capacity between 0.2 kWe and 9 kWe, Stirling engines can be used. These engines are external combustion devices and therefore differ substantially from the conventional models. The Stirling engine has fewer moving parts than conventional engines, and no valves, tappets, fuel injectors or spark ignition systems. It is therefore quieter than normal engines. Stirling engines also require little maintenance and the emission of pollutants is low.
Since the late 1990s microturbines have become available. They are derived from automotive turbo-chargers and are available from 30 kWe to around 250 kWe. Microturbines use less space than conventional engines and maintenance costs are lower. Moreover, the emission of pollutant gases is reduced, especially those gases that cause acid rain and ozone layer depletion. Electrical efficiencies are typically lower than in internal combustion engines.
Steam Turbines
Steam turbines have been used as prime movers for large-scale cogeneration systems for many years. Typically, steam turbines are associated with larger power stations but also smaller units starting with 200 kWe are frequently used. The overall efficiency generally is very high, achieving up to 84%. Steam turbines run with solid, liquid or gaseous fuels, both fossil and renewable. The typical heat:power ratio of steam turbines is around 6:1.
Fuel Cells
A new development is the use of fuel cells for cogeneration. It needs to be said, however, that fuel cells are not yet commercially available. Fuel cells convert the chemical energy of hydrogen and oxygen directly into electricity without combustion and mechanical work such as in turbines or engines. The hydrogen is usually produced from natural gas by a process known as reforming. The total efficiencies of cogeneration systems reach 85 to 90%, while the heat to power ratio is in the range 5:4. Fuel cells with a capacity of 1 kWe provide heat and power to single family houses, whereas bigger applications of around 300 kWe can be used in hospitals for example.
Gas Turbines
Gas turbines have become the most widely used prime mover for large-scale cogeneration in recent years. The waste gases exhausted from the turbine have a temperature of 450C to 550C, making the gas turbine particularly suitable steam supply. Gas turbines are not only used in large-scale applications. Smaller units, starting at around 400 kWe are available on the market.
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F u n d a m e n ta l e c o n o m i c c o n s i d e r a t i o n
In order to fully meet the needs of the cogeneration operator, the optimal size of the cogeneration unit needs to be determined. The heat load of the site is the most important factor when defining the right capacity. Other factors include the type of cogeneration unit, the consumption pattern, and the presence (or absence) of specific public support mechanisms for cogeneration. Example A
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Example A shows a cogeneration unit that is sized in a way that allows for many operating hours. The total amount of 6,800 operating hours means that the unit is running for more than nine months during the year. Only when the heat demand is lowest (usually in the summer period) is the machine switched off. The rationale behind this approach is that an investment in cogeneration amortises the faster, the more the unit is in operation. However, in this case only a relatively small proportion of the heat demand is met by the cogeneration unit. The rest will be supplied by boilers. Example B
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Example B shows another possibility to determine the right size for a cogeneration unit. Here, the plant runs only for a certain period of time. Consequently, the capacity can be bigger, even if the heat load is identical with the object of the previous example. This option is chosen in cases, when night time operation is uneconomic
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F u n d a m e n ta l e c o n o m i c c o n s i d e r a t i o n
Costs
Investment into energy efficiency does not come for free. The owner of a cogeneration plant needs to calculate with two types of cost: the initial costs for installing the cogeneration plant (purchase of the cogeneration unit, connection to the power grid, the fuel system and the heating system, construction and engineering) and for the long-term costs for the fuel and for the maintenance of the system.
Composition of typical initial costs per unit capacity Looking at the initial costs, the investment into cogeneration is more capital-intensive than the investment into a boiler, which only produces heat and no electricity. The graph above shows that the cogeneration unit constitutes the biggest share of overall investment. Generally, smaller cogeneration units have a higher price per kWe, so that the total initial costs vary from 700 to 3,000 per kWe.
800.000 700.000 600.000 Total investment in Euro 500.000 400.000 300.000 200.000 100.000 0 5 15 30 50 65 100 150 250 300 350 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 kWe of chp-plant Engineering Connection to grid Exhaust Connection to heating system Construction CHP-Unit
Maintenance costs per unit capacity Next to the fuel costs, long-term costs occur due to maintenance and service needs. Most suppliers of cogeneration units offer a fullservice contract: essentially a life-time guarantee for the cogeneration unit. Fullservice contracts have a duration of ten years or more and should cover the costs for lubrication, filters, spark-plugs (for engines), etc. Cogeneration users should not shy away from paying these additional costs, if they do not have the knowledge for operating, maintaining and overhauling these machines.
4,00 Cost for Full-Service-Contract in [ct/kWh el] 3,50 3,00 2,50 2,00 1,50 1,00 0,50 0,00 0 200 400 600 800 1.000 electrical power of chp unit in kWe
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F u n d a m e n ta l e c o n o m i c c o n s i d e r a t i o n
Benefits
Investing into cogeneration is profitable when the income from the investment is higher than the initial and long-term costs. The cogeneration owners earn money by producing electricity that they can either consume themselves or sell to the local electricity supplier. In many countries, they receive additional financial support from the governments, as cogeneration offers many benefits for the society, such as saving primary energy, avoiding network losses and reducing greenhouse gases. The cogeneration operators no longer only buy from the local electricity supplier, they produce their power themselves. However, in order to cover peak demand and in times, when the cogeneration units are switched off, they will rely on the electricity from the grid. As they can produce a considerable part of the electricity and heat needs of the site, substantial energy and cost savings are achieved. Austria Belgium Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom 13.6 7.5 0.0 17.1 49.1 11.0 38.0 4.0 9.8 7.8 21.5 2.5 7.4 37.5 9.7 7.9 0.0 29.9 16.0 10.0 17.5 5.9 7.8 6.8 5.4 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % The European Directive on Cogeneration has been transposed into national law in 2006 and obliges all European Governments to promote cogeneration in general and small-scale cogeneration of up to 1,000 kWe in particular. In order to increase their share of cogeneration, many European Governments offer financial support for cogeneration users. These support mechanisms can be very different and are designed according to the needs of the specific countries. Typical mechanisms are investment subsidies, favourable feed-in tariffs for excess electricity, white or green certificates, reduction of energy taxes or VAT, or specific loan programmes. In order to calculate the profitability of your cogeneration project, you will need to know about any support mechanism put in place by your Government. A regional "cogeneration facilitator" can help you, as well as national cogeneration associations or governmental bodies. In order to get some first indication, please consult the www.cogen-challenge.org website and download the country fact sheet for your home country.
Share of cogeneration in the EU-25 countries in the year 2002 (in %) Source: Eurostat 2006
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Grid connection
The distribution network operator should be involved in the project at an early stage. In the case of bigger units the impact on the grid needs to be checked and the point of interconnection needs to be defined.
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easyCOGEN.xls feasibility study grid connection distribution network operator fuel contract building authorities administrative procedures emissions regulations maintenance public support mechanisms
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Electricity distributor
Running a cogeneration unit may have an effect on the price you pay for electrical energy. Even if your electricity bill will decrease after installing a cogeneration unit, the unit price of your electricity might increase, because you purchase fewer units. This effect must be taken into account in the feasibility study before you decide whether to install a cogeneration unit or not.
E Emissions regulations
In each country there are certain regulations on air quality that need to be fulfilled. Emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) typically cause the greatest concern and legislative attention. Nitrogen oxides are toxic, form acid rain and contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer. Emissions can be reduced by regularly maintaining the cogeneration plant. Additional emissions regulations may concern sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and dust.
Fuel contract
With the installation of a cogeneration unit, your fuel consumption on the site will increase. Therefore, you should contact your fuel supplier to amend the contract, if necessary.
Maintenance
In order to calculate the economical benefits of a cogeneration plant it is necessary to know the maintenance cost for a "fullservice-contract". You will find more information on maintenance costs on page 9 of this brochure.
Building authority
Depending on your home country and region, you might need to ask for a permission of the building authorities allowing you to install a small-scale cogeneration unit. The building regulations vary substantially across Europe, so that a generalising statement is difficult to make. In any case, you should get informed about the regulations in your region.
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3. Step: Choose a specific thermal profile By selecting one of the six activities of the drop-down menu you know the optimum share of your heat demand that could be covered by a cogeneration unit. You will see automatically, how many hours of the year the unit would be in operation, the thermal capacity (in kW), and a graph with your heat production (cogeneration and boiler) per month.
4. Step: Choose the cogeneration technology If you use natural gas as fuel for your boiler, you will automatically choose the natural gas engine as cogeneration technology for your project. In the case that you have an oil-fired boiler, you have the choice to either opt for a diesel-engine or for a natural gas engine.
This small users' guide explains to you how to work with easyCOGEN.xls. Should you have difficulties with this programme, please contact the COGENchallenge team
5. Step: Determine your profits from producing electricity Please type in the amount of your annual electricity consumption and of your annual electricity bill. The programme will calculate the average electricity price that you pay and multiply it with the amount of electricity produced by your cogeneration unit. Below, you will find your annual profits by producing the power yourself.
1. Step: Location of the project: Please choose the country (and region) where you want to realise your cogeneration project. Due to geographical differences such as climate conditions and public support mechanisms, the location has got an important impact on the calculation of the profitability.
2. Step: Determine your net heat demand The net heat demand is the single most important value that determines the size of your high efficiency cogeneration unit. In order to calculate the net heat demand,
6. Step: Determine your profits from producing heat Please type in, how much you pay per year for heating oil / natural gas. The programme will automatically calculate your average fuel price and will determine the value of the heat that you produce with the cogeneration unit.
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8. Step: Determine the profitability of your cogeneration project: easyCOGEN.xls calculates for you the "Total initial investment" which is the sum of the cogeneration unit (72%), the installation costs (7%), buildings adaptation costs (7%), study costs (5%), grid connection costs (3%), and other costs (6%).
easy COGEN.xls
Rough calculation tool for small-scale cogeneration projects www.cogen-challenge.org
= Enter your data in the blues boxes. = The results are given in the grey boxes. If you want to, you can change the underlying formulas. Name of the project : ...type in the name of your project...
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If the "Conclusions" at the end of the programme appear in green, you should consult an expert for carrying out a feasibility study
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The European information campaign on small-scale cogeneration
Further information
In the case that you find the installation of a cogeneration unit useful for your situation, you should consult an expert. In six European cities a facilitator for small-scale cogeneration can assist interested parties with his knowledge and experience with this technology. In Graz (Austria), Namur (Belgium), Frankfurt am Main (Germany), Lyon (France), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Oviedo (Spain) the facilitators can be contacted directly as experts for their regions and countries. In most other European countries there is a national cogeneration association that is able to assist you.
Legal disclaimer
The publication of this brochure has been supported by the European Commission under its Intelligent Energy Europe Programme. The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not represent the opinion of the Community. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
Contact
Frank Knecht Project Co-ordinator T: +32 (2) 772.82.90 E: frank.knecht@cogen.org
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