ENERGY COGENERATION
What Is Energy Cogeneration?
Organizations that use large amounts of hot water, heat, steam or chilling benefit from Energy Cogeneration. Major benefactors of cogen are hospitals, universities, hotels, office buildings, aquatic centers, food and beverage product manufacturers and multi-family buildings or any other large facilities that have extensive requirements for energy production or heat and chilling needs. Cogen units with electrical outputs ranging from 60 kW up to 1 MW. The system works in tandem with the electrical utility power grid and generally provides a minimum of 50% and often more electrical requirements. The balance continues to be provided by your local utility. The heat by-product is recovered through a highly efficient process, and can be used for domestic hot water, space heating, cooling, and other industrial processes.
Are you curious about the feasibility of a site, you should gather the past 12 months of energy costs. This includes your itemized utility bills (gas and electric) and any costs associated with backup power. With that info we can quickly assess the cogen options.
Introduction to Cogeneration
Cogeneration is the simultaneous production of two useful forms of energy: high-temperature heat and electricity generated from a single fuel source. For this reason Cogeneration is also referred to as Combined Heat and Power (CHP).
A major benefit of a Cogen or CHP is that it recovers otherwise wasted thermal energy and distributes the heat energy throughout the building’s HVAC system. This method of heating is highly efficient compared to separate dedicated heating systems powered by a different fuel source. This wasted thermal energy can also be used to create hot water throughout the building.
Benefits of Energy Cogeneration
Cogen offers major economic and environmental benefits:
-
Reduced utility bills
-
Reliable on-site power
-
Back-up power capability
-
Highly efficient energy production
-
Strong return on investment
-
Typically 2 - 4 year payback
-
Fueled by clean natural gas
-
Reduce carbon emissions
-
Qualifies as an Alternative Energy Solution
-
Qualifies for Federal Tax Incentives
How Cogen Works
Cogeneration is a high-efficiency energy system that produces electricity and valuable heat from a single fuel source, typically natural gas.
